My congressional sources tell me that the nomination of Tim Geithner to serve as Treasury Secretary could be in more serious trouble than press accounts suggest. Although leading Republicans have gone out of their way to praise Geithner, Obama officials and other senior Democrats are very worried about his credibility, with revelations that Geithner failed to pay $34,000 in Social Security taxes over several years--even though he had been explicitly advised by the International Monetary Fund, where he then worked, that as an international civil servant he was nonetheless required to pay taxes between 2001 and 2004. Among the worries: Geithner as Treasury Secretary is the government’s top tax official. When the administration seeks to raise taxes on the top two percent, an Obama campaign pledge and a budgetary necessity, the right wing will have a field day with the hypocrisy of Geithner’s own tax non-compliance. The Wall Street Journal has already begun this drumbeat. This lapse also invites questions about Geithner’s judgment and integrity, two of his greatest appeals as a public servant. Second, some feminists have complained about what seems to be double-standard treatment, and have communicated their dismay to Obama officials, according to Hill sources. When Bill Clinton’s first prospective nominee for attorney general, Zoe Baird, was found not to have paid social security taxes on her nanny, Baird was unceremoniously dumped. You could argue that Geithner’s failure to pay his own taxes is more serious than Baird’s nanny-gate. But so far Obama is standing by his man. The last thing the administration needs is this distraction. Geithner is point man for the entire economic recovery plan. Expect the decision to be made soon on whether Geithner does a Richardson, and “withdraws” for the greater good. But if Obama loses Geithner, then who becomes Treasury Secretary? My sources say that Plan B is to give the job to Larry Summers, and reduce the importance of the National Economic Council that Summers has been named to head. Ironically, Summers has also been a lightening rod for women’s groups, because of his clumsy remarks while president of Harvard, asserting that women were perhaps less innately equipped to excel at math and science. One factor in the decision to give Geithner Treasury and Summers a top White House job was the concern that Summers would have a difficult time at a confirmation. Now the betting is that both parties would want this resolved, and having taken one scalp even Obama’s opponents would not to go after a second one on an issue as critical as the economy. Even before the inauguration, the President-elect celebrated as “No-Drama Obama” is coming in for more than his share. -- Robert Kuttner
