Barack Obama vilifies both “Wall Street
speculators “who pay themselves big bonuses when times are bad” and the
greedy top Two Percenters who do not pay “their fair share” by
exploiting tax loopholes. With such strongly articulated views, his
nominee for Secretary of Treasury, Jack Lew, and his current Secretary
of Treasury, Timothy Geithner, appear to be unlikely choices for such a sensitive cabinet position.
Jack Lew collected over two million dollars for his short stint at the collapsing Citigroup. Tim Geithner, whose earnings placed him in the top two percent, conveniently forgot to pay a substantial portion of his taxes. Although the sums of money involved in the Lew and Geithner cases are small, they are of enormous symbolic value. They show that Obama is prepared to accept behavior from his closest associates that he demagogues for others in his public persona.
Lew’s confirmation hearings will explore his stint as CEO of Citigroup’s alternative investments group from January 2008 until he lined up a new job in the state department before the end of the year.
Jack Lew collected over two million dollars for his short stint at the collapsing Citigroup. Tim Geithner, whose earnings placed him in the top two percent, conveniently forgot to pay a substantial portion of his taxes. Although the sums of money involved in the Lew and Geithner cases are small, they are of enormous symbolic value. They show that Obama is prepared to accept behavior from his closest associates that he demagogues for others in his public persona.
Lew’s confirmation hearings will explore his stint as CEO of Citigroup’s alternative investments group from January 2008 until he lined up a new job in the state department before the end of the year.
go to forbes.com
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