If everyone has to “have some skin in the game” as Obama likes to say, it would be nice to know that the treasury secretary was included in that. According to the AP, Timothy Geithner, Obama’s pick for treasury secretary failed to pay $34,000 in taxes between 2001-2004.

Take a look at this excellent timeline put together by Jim Lindgren. It seems to clear the president-elect of any wrong doing, but shows he’s potentially being less than truthful when he says he knew nothing about it.

(hat tip Ace)

Fresh on the heels of her false sniper story, Hillary Clinton has been caught telling another made up story. Repeatedly over the last month Clinton has told the story of a pregnant woman named Trina Bechtel who was denied treatment at an Ohio hospital because she did not have $100 the hospital demanded to treat her.

The hospital says that story is totally false and not only is Trina Bechtel very much alive, but she also had health insurance!!

Clinton had told her audiences the woman, Trina Bechtel, returned to the hospital days later with severe complications. She says the woman and her baby died after being taken to another hospital for specialized care.

The story was cited by Clinton as evidence of the need for universal healthcare.

The hospital — O’Bleness Memorial Hospital in Athens, Ohio, which is not named in the story — has demanded Clinton stop telling the story, claiming it is inaccurate.

The hospital said Bechtel was being treated at an affiliated practice prior to her complications, and she did have insurance, Fox News reported.

It’s absolutely incredible that Hillary Clinton continues to be caught literally inventing elaborate stories out of thin air, but largely gets a pass from the left-wing media. How can people honestly believe that a person who constantly tells lies on the campaign trail is fit to be President?

Let me guess, she misspoke? She meant to say the woman was alive and had health insurance but it just came out wrong. Repeatedly…over and over again.

-Chris Jones

UPDATE:

In the interest of fairness it should be noted that unlike the sniper fire story, Sen. Clinton didn’t make-up the hospital story but was merely repeating a story she heard second hand that turned out to be false. Click HERE to read a detailed explanation of how the story originated.

A big thanks goes out to Hot Joints reader Cliff for making us aware of this new information.

-Chris Jones
Managing Editor
The Hot Joints

Bill Clinton met with California’s superdelegates last weekend and they were treated to a red-faced hissy fit from the former President.

…Clinton had one of his famous meltdowns Sunday, blasting away at former presidential contender Bill Richardson for having endorsed Obama, the media and the entire nomination process.

“It was one of the worst political meetings I have ever attended,” one superdelegate said.

According to those at the meeting, Clinton – who flew in from Chicago with bags under his eyes – was classic old Bill at first, charming and making small talk with the 15 or so delegates who gathered in a room behind the convention stage.

But as the group moved together for the perfunctory photo, Rachel Binah, a former Richardson delegate who now supports Hillary Clinton, told Bill how “sorry” she was to have heard former Clinton campaign manager James Carville call Richardson a “Judas” for backing Obama.

It was as if someone pulled the pin from a grenade.

“Five times to my face (Richardson) said that he would never do that,” a red-faced, finger-pointing Clinton erupted.

The former president then went on a tirade that ran from the media’s unfair treatment of Hillary to questions about the fairness of the votes in state caucuses that voted for Obama. It ended with him asking delegates to imagine what the reaction would be if Obama was trailing by just 1 percent and people were telling him to drop out.

“It was very, very intense,” said one attendee. “Not at all like the Bill of earlier campaigns.”

It really is an amazing thing to watch the Clinton’s literally become unhinged as the nomination slips further and further from Hillary’s grasp. Bill Clinton has been suffering from a chronic case of “foot-in-mouth” disease since the first day of his wife’s campaign.

Bill Clinton’s anger at Richardson is understandable, but his continued amateurish blunders are not. I’ve never been a fan of the Clinton’s, but I have always respected Bill Clinton’s skill as a politician. In many people’s eyes Bill Clinton’s political prowess is almost mythical, but his repeated outbursts and blunders are slowly eroding that myth.

-Chris Jones

As New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani billed obscure city agencies for tens of thousands of dollars in security expenses amassed during the time when he was beginning an extramarital relationship with future wife Judith Nathan in the Hamptons.

The expenses first surfaced as Giuliani’s two terms as mayor of New York drew to a close in 2001, when a city auditor stumbled across something unusual: $34,000 worth of travel expenses buried in the accounts of the New York City Loft Board.

When the city’s fiscal monitor asked for an explanation, Giuliani’s aides refused, citing “security,” said Jeff Simmons, a spokesman for the city comptroller.

Political website The Politico was finally able to obtain the documents under the Freedom of Information Act. While the extra-marital affair Giuliani had while he was Mayor is old news, the practice of transferring the travel expenses of the Mayor’s security detail to the accounts of obscure mayoral offices has never been brought to light until now.

You can read all the details at The Politico