Joe the Plumber vs. Timothy Geithner

Because I made the mistake of looking at the National Review, I couldn’t help but link to this column by Jonah Goldberg. Goldberg – whose talent and vision is only surpassed by his connections – manages to make a comparison of Joe the Plumber and Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner.

Is Geithner really the only man who can do the job?

By Jonah Goldberg

During the hothouse days of the presidential campaign, Joe Wurzelbacher became famous because he got Barack Obama to confess that he likes to spread the wealth around. Better known as Joe the Plumber, the Toledo, Ohio, laborer became the target of bottomless venom and scorn because he seemed like an obstacle to Obama’s coronation.

One of the main talking points, particularly among left-wing bloggers, was that Wurzelbacher was a tax cheat because, it was revealed by ABC News, he had a tax lien of $1,182 for back Ohio state taxes. This fueled the argument that he was a fraud, his opinion didn’t matter. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.

Fast-forward to today. Timothy Geithner, President Obama’s choice to be the next treasury secretary, quite clearly tried to defraud the government of tens of thousands in payroll taxes while working at the International Monetary Fund. The IMF does not withhold such taxes but does compensate American employees who must pay them out of pocket. Geithner took the compensation—which involves considerable paperwork—but then simply pocketed the money.

The outlook for the public discourse remains at partly stupid.

–WKW