How come tax and housekeeper problems aren’t affecting Geithner?

Kennedy quits.

ALBANY — Problems involving taxes and a household employee surfaced during the vetting of Caroline Kennedy and derailed her candidacy for the Senate, a person close to Gov. David A. Paterson said on Thursday, in an account at odds with Ms. Kennedy’s own description of her reasons for withdrawing.

Geithner moves on.

After a delay of less than a week, the Senate Finance Committee began grilling Geithner today and, seeking to pre-but any questions about his tax snafu, the Treasury Secretary designate called the errors “avoidable” but “unintentional.

That explanation seemed to satisfy the members of the committee who passed Geithner on to a full vote by a 18-5 margin today.