Is The Bus Looming Again?

Another Obama associate is running the risk of being tossed under the bus soon.  AP:

President-elect Barack Obama's choice to run the Treasury Department and lead the economic rescue effort disclosed to senators Tuesday that he failed to pay $34,000 in taxes from 2001 to 2004, a last-minute complication in an otherwise smooth path to confirmation.

Timothy Geithner paid most of the past-due taxes days before Obama announced his nomination in November, an Obama transition official said. The unpaid taxes were discovered by Obama's transition team while investigating Geithner's background, the official said.

The transition official requested anonymity because the source was not authorized to discuss Geithner's situation.

Obama reiterated his support Tuesday for Geithner as senators who are considering the appointment quizzed Geithner behind closed doors.

"He's dedicated his career to our country and served with honor, intelligence and distinction," incoming White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. "That service should not be tarnished by honest mistakes, which, upon learning of them, he quickly addressed."

Geithner failed to pay self-employment taxes for money he earned while working for the International Monetary Fund from 2001 to 2003, the transition official said. In 2006, the IRS notified him that he owed $14,847 in self-employment taxes and $2,383 in penalties from 2003 and 2004.

Transition officials discovered last fall that Geithner also had not paid the taxes in 2001 or 2002. He paid $25,970 in taxes and interest for those years several days before Obama announced his nomination, the transition official said.

Geithner also didn't realize a housekeeper he paid in 2004 and 2005 did not have current employment documentation as an immigrant for the final three months she worked for him, the transition official said.

Geithner is the second Obama nominee to face controversy. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson withdrew his name on Jan. 4 as Obama's Commerce secretary after questions surfaced about an ongoing federal investigation.

The AP is forgetting about all the others who have come before, including (but not limited to) Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his own grandmother, and Governor Blagojevich, to name just a few.

Is anyone else seeing a pattern here?

Obama picks scandal-ridden Democrat to be his friend...Obama says scandal-ridden Democrat friend is worthy of our trust...scandal gets worse...scandal-ridden Democrat friend backs out...Obama says scandal-ridden Democrat friend isn't the scandal-ridden Democrat friend he knew.

And isn't it just amazing that Geithner suddenly remembered to pay those taxes just a couple days before Obama announced him as a Cabinet pick?  Wow, it's a good thing he got that done when he did...otherwise, it might have looked suspicious or something.

Yes, it's getting mighty crowded under the Obamessiah bus.  Maybe Obama can use some bailout money to raise those wheels a bit more.  After all, he hasn't even been sworn in yet.

There's my two cents.