Panel Approves Treasury Head|by Your Payday Loan Source

Senate panel approves Timothy Geithner

Timothy Geithner

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The United States is one step closer to having a new Banker in Chief. Timothy Geithner’s nomination today was approved by a Senate panel, and next the full senate will vote. Despite concerns about Geithner’s mistakes on his taxes at the beginning of the decade, he was approved 18-5.

Obama says he hopes the full Senate will approve Geithner quickly to expedite implementing the stimulus and bailout plans in the works. Geither will head up the $825 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan and the distribution of the remaining $350 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Funds.

A big job

According to Wikipedia, the Treasury Secretary “is responsible for formulating and recommending domestic and international financial, economic, and tax policy.” The secretary also is the top financial adviser to the president. Geither will be very influential in how the stimulus and bailout plans are implemented.

Furthermore, Geithner will be involved in making long-term economic policies. As the economic landscape in the country changes over the next four years, Geithner will be responsible for creating policies that will govern the nation’s finances for years to come.  He could even be involved in making policies that apply to payday loan companies.

Obama’s first request

Before Obama was given access to the other half of the TARP funds, he promised more transparency in regard to how the money is spent. Many politicians and other citizens were disgruntled about the way the first half of the TARP funds was handled. The main complaint from the Senate and the public was that the Treasury didn’t track how the money was used.

Geithner, if his nomination is approved, will be responsible for keeping Obama’s promise to track where the TARP money goes and the effects it has. He will also need to present this information to the public in order to follow through on the promise of transparency.

Full disclosure

Geithner has done pretty well so far at being transparent about his personal finances. He didn’t hesitate to talk about the mistakes he made on his taxes at the beginning of the decade. He disclosed the amount and nature of the mistakes, and repaid all back taxes and interest.

The IRS audited his taxes for 2003 and 2004 and found that he had mistakenly not paid his taxes in full because he worked for an international company that does not automatically deduct taxes for Social Security and Medicare. He then took it upon himself to re-evaluate his own taxes for 2001 and 2002 and made reparations for those years.

Money management

Despite Geithner’s honesty and transparency regarding his taxes, some senators argue that making those mistakes in the first place makes him disqualified for the Treasury Secretary post. The five “no” votes regarding the Geithner’s nomination came from Republicans.

The five dissenters said Geithner’s tax mistakes were a serious error for an official who would oversee the IRS. Even some Democrats who voted “yes” expressed disappointment that the man who will likely oversee the nation’s finances made mistakes on his own taxes. But they said because of the urgency of the economic crisis, they approved him so that recovery plans could quickly be implemented.

Check with your payday loan source for more news on the economy.