Lack of fame aids Geithner over tax mistake

By Matthew Bigg

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Timothy who?

Wall Street knows all about him, but among ordinary Americans on Main Street, the hiccup to a smooth nomination for Timothy Geithner as the next U.S. Treasury secretary seems barely to have registered.

President-elect Barack Obama's pick appears to have avoided sustained criticism over his admission that he did not pay all of his taxes -- partly because he is so little known.

"I don't know anything about it (the controversy). Did it just come up in the last couple days?" asked Bill Reynolds, 48, a printer in Cincinnati, Ohio, when asked about the issue. His response was echoed by others in U.S. cities on Thursday.

Geithner's confirmation for the job by the U.S. Senate looked straightforward until Geithner -- who is president of the New York Federal Reserve -- told a Senate panel this week he had made mistakes over taxes while working for the International Monetary Fund in 2001-2003.

Geithner also said there had been a lapse in a housekeeper's work papers during her employment by his family.

Geithner is a familiar face on Wall Street but only 1 percent of people interviewed for a survey published on Thursday by the Pew Research Center could name Geithner as one of Obama's cabinet picks. Obama, a Democrat, takes office next Tuesday.

By contrast, 56 percent could name former first lady and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Obama's choice for secretary of State.

"He is not a household name by any stretch. This is a fairly low visibility appointment, not that the economy is unimportant," said Michael Dimock, associate director at Pew.

Obama aides have called the errors honest mistakes. Geithner has amended his tax returns to repay about $42,700 in back taxes and interest and several Republicans say they do not expect the issue to derail his nomination.

Even so, taxes are a sensitive issue in the United States, where many people see taxes as an infringement on their financial rights. Some people who were aware of Geithner's tax problem were not happy about it.

"I don't understand why they would even entertain the idea of appointing someone like that to that position. I mean, if he's avoiding taxes or evading taxes, that's a basic American responsibility that we all have," said Francis Charfauros, a manager of a coffee shop in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Others echoed disapproval of Geithner, including Trinette McCrary, 39, who works in a dental office in Chicago.

"I don't think it's fair. He's supposed to be a leader on the economy and he didn't pay his taxes? That's just weird," McCrary said.

The little-loved Internal Revenue Service is an agency of the Treasury Department.