Ezra bemoans Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's performance and wishes that Tom Daschle's tax problems had come to the fore before those of the Treasury Secretary, since Daschle, it seems, is indispensable. But it's not so simple as that, and that defense of Daschle doesn't cut the mustard. And before I get into it, I'll note that I'm an admirer of Daschle and was bullish on his confirmation. Geithner and Daschle's tax problems aren't an apples to apples comparison. Geithner failed to pay social security and medicare taxes on income he made at the IMF, which is either a common mistake or a common bit of tax fraud since the IRS had to issue a blanket deal to all IMF staff to get the matter resolved; Geithner ended up paying $25,970 in back taxes. But Daschle's initial intransigence -- accepting a free car and driver from a wealthy donor and failing to pay taxes on it as income, a $146,000 mistake -- revealed a worse problem: Daschle had been accepting money from the very industry he was expected to remake, with health care groups paying him some $220,000 in the last two years. Some of those groups referenced their payments to Daschle in advocacy messages. It's not an uncommon thing in Washington for an ex-Senator to cash in. But it is a somewhat uncommon thing for a person like Tim Geithner, a career public servant who hasn't worked in the private sector since 1988, to become a cabinet secretary. Put simply: Whatever you think of him, Daschle's money mistakes compromised the work he would have done. Geithner's are at worst poor judgment. But the real question is of whose confirmation need to come sooner, and the answer is clear: Geithner. While health care reform is key to the liberal project and the long-term health of the country, having Geithner come in and immediately work on three hugely complex and immediate packages to alleviate the recession -- the stimulus package, the housing market plan and the financial stability plan -- was immediately necessary, and couldn't have waited six weeks for another candidate to be found, vetted and confirmed; even Summers would have taken that long. Geithner's presentation of the financial stability plan was weak, but given all the issues on his plate its no surprise there was an early mistake. Blaming that mistake entirely on Geithner isn't a good idea, either: obviously other members of the White House economic team had their fingerprints all over it. Overall, his early performance has been good and its far too soon to judge the final results of the financial stability plan. Meanwhile, health care reform moves forward in the OMB and congress. Maybe only Daschle could have filled the hybrid role designed for him as HHS Secretary and health care czar, but that role isn't a necessary condition for health care reform, which would never have come before a response to the economic crisis in any case. Geithner's tax problems emerging before Daschle's was a lot of things, but it wasn't a tragedy.
-- Tim Fernholz
