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Feb. 8, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Lofty ideals must be followed with grounded applications

Clifford D. May: Letter from the West Bank
Steve Rothaus: Judge OKs plan for gay man, lesbian couple to be on girl's birth certificate
Gloria Goodale: States consider drone bans: Overreaction or crucial for privacy rights?
Environmental Nutrition Editors: Don't buy the aloe vera juice hype
Michael Craig Miller, M.D.: Harvard Experts: Regular exercise pumps up memory, too
Erik Lacitis: Vanity plates: Some take too much license
The Kosher Gourmet by Susie Middleton: Broccoflower, Carrot and Leek Ragout with Thyme, Orange and Tapenade is a delightful and satisfying melange of veggies, herbs and aromatics
Feb. 6, 2013

Nara Schoenberg: The other in-law problem

Frank J. Gaffney Jr. : A see-no-jihadist for the CIA
Kristen Chick: Ahmadinejad visits Cairo: How sect tempers Islamist ties between Egypt, Iran
Roger Simon: Ed Koch's lucky corner
Heron Marquez Estrada: Robot-building sports on a roll
Patrick G. Dean, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: How to restore body's ability to secrete insulin
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: 3 prostate-protecting diet tips
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen 7 principles for to help you make the best soup ever in a slow cooker
Feb. 4, 2013

Jonathan Tobin: Can Jewish Groups Speak Out on Hagel?

David Wren: Findings of government study, released 3 days before Newtown shooting, at odds with gun-control crusaders
Kristen Chick: Tahrir becomes terrifying, tainted
Curtis Tate and Greg Gordon: US keeps building new highways while letting old ones crumble
David G. Savage: Supreme Court to hear case on arrests, DNA
Harvard Health Letters: Neck and shoulder pain? Know what it means and what to do
Andrea N. Giancoli, M.P.H., R.D.: Eat your way to preventing age-related muscle loss
The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington Baked Pears in Red Wine and Port Wine Glaze: A festive winter dessert
Feb. 1, 2013

Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: Redemption

Clifford D. May Home, bloody, home
Christa Case Bryant andNicholas Blanford Why despite Syria's allies warning of retaliation for Israeli airstrikes, the threats are likely hollow
Rick Armon, Ed Meyer and Phil Trexler Ex-police captain cleared by DNA test is freed after nearly 15 years
Harvard Health Letters: Could it by your thyroid?
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: When 'healthy food' isn't
Sue Zeidler: Coke ad racist? Arab-American groups want to yank Super Bowl ad (INCLUDES VIDEO)
The Kosher Gourmet by Nealey Dozier The secret of this soup is the garnish
January 30, 2013

Allan Chernoff: Celebrating 'Back from the Dead Day'

America isn't a religious country? Don't tell Superbowl fans!
Mark Clayton Cybercrime takedown!
Germany remembers Hitler rise to power
Israel salutes U. N. --- with the one finger salute
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Get cookin' with heart-healthy fats
Ballot riles Guinness World Records
The Kosher Gourmet by Elizabeth Passarella Potato, Squash and Goat Cheese Gratin
January 28, 2013

Nancy Youssef: And Democracy for all? Two years on, Egypt remains in state of chaos

Fred Weir: Putin: West is fomenting jihadi 'blowback'
Meredith Cohn: Implantable pain disk may help those with cancer
Michael Craig Miller, M.D. : Ask the Harvard Experts: Are there drugs to help control binge eating?
David Ovalle Use of controversial 'brain mapping' technology stymied
Jane Stancill: Professor's logic class has 180,000 friends
David Clark Scott Lego Racism?
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali The celebrated chef introduces us to PANZEROTTI PUGLIESI, cheese-stuffed pastry from Italy's south


Jewish World Review January 16, 2009 / 20 Teves 5769

No more search and destroy missions

By Linda Chavez


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | When word broke that Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner had failed to pay employment taxes he owed for several years, the reaction in Washington was gentle. Politicians on both sides of the aisle defended Geithner as an excellent choice to head the Treasury in these troubled financial times and predicted that the incident would be little more than a hiccup in his confirmation process. The news media covered the breaking story, but without the hype and round-the-clock stories they've run when nominees hit a snag in the past.


Does this mean that Barack Obama's ascendance to the presidency is ushering in a new era of civility? I hope so. Previous presidents' picks haven't been so lucky. I should know. I was the subject of a media feeding frenzy eight years ago when I was nominated to be George W. Bush's secretary of labor.


Within minutes of my introduction by the president-elect, journalists were poring over every word I'd published and every interview I'd given in the previous 20 years.


Two days later, ABC News broke a story accusing me - erroneously — of hiring an illegal nanny. Soon, TV satellite trucks surrounded my house and investigative reporters began scouring my neighborhood.


I decided to step down when it became clear after three days of non-stop coverage that I was becoming a major distraction for the new president. But I also wanted the opportunity to set the record straight: A decade earlier, at the urging of a friend, I had taken into my home an illegal immigrant who had no other place to live, given her financial and other assistance, and later helped her return to her native country. I didn't break any laws, though I did exercise bad judgment in not telling the president-elect's team in the vetting process what had occurred 10 years earlier.


Geithner has also been accused of employing an illegal immigrant. But the facts suggest he, too, is innocent of wrongdoing on that count. He hired the woman when she had a valid visa — and, presumably, the requisite status to allow her to work in the U.S. — but her authorization lapsed for a few months before she left his employ. By law, he was only required to check legal status when he hired the woman, so he should be off the hook on this issue.


Geithner's tax issue is more serious. For at least four years between 2001 and 2004, he apparently did not pay FICA and Medicare taxes on his earnings while employed at the International Monetary Fund. A subsequent IRS audit of Geithner's 2003 and 2004 tax returns exposed the tax liability, which he then paid, with interest. But he chose not to pay two additional years' taxes and interest for 2001 and 2002. Only when the Obama vetting team discovered the additional missing taxes did Geithner pay up. In all, Geithner paid more than $43,000 in back taxes and interest on his overdue employment taxes — a sum greater than the yearly wages of the average American.


Geithner will have a chance to explain his actions when he faces the Senate Finance Committee next week for his confirmation hearings. I think it's worth reserving judgment until we know all the details. It will be interesting to see, in the meantime, how aggressively the media pursue the story. Reporters should do their job to unearth the facts — they certainly didn't hold back against previous administrations' nominees. But that doesn't mean they should run to the presses with every wild allegation and uncorroborated accusation they uncover, especially when the nominee is muzzled by the informal rules that dictate he can't speak for himself prior to the hearings.


So far, most Republican senators are exercising admirable restraint not to go on the attack. But their desire to forego gotcha politics shouldn't be an excuse not to ask legitimate questions when the nominee is before them. Let Geithner speak for himself. His answers will determine whether he's fit to serve. And we'll all be a lot better off if we allow the confirmation process to work as it's supposed to rather than derailing it in a search and destroy mission.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.


JWR contributor Linda Chavez is President of the Center for Equal Opportunity. Her latest book is "Betrayal: How Union Bosses Shake Down Their Members and Corrupt American Politics". (Click HERE to purchase. Sales help fund JWR.)

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