The Rubber Stamp Senate: So Much For Oversight
File this under one of many articles we’ve written, WHERE’S THE OUTRAGE?
The Democratic Party led Senate Finance Committee has recommended Ted Geithner to be Secretary of the Senate with only a couple of Republican Senators raising much of an inquiry at all to this figure’s despicable conduct playing loose and dirty with his taxes and hiring a domestic worker for whom the proper taxes were not deducted.
Bill Clinton lost two nominees, Kimber Wood and Zoe Baird while George W. Bush lost Linda Chavez for the same “Nanny-gate” issues using the inside the Beltway jargon. If that alone was enough to disqualify these appointments, how can Geithner possibly slide in given his failure to pay taxes over a four year period.
How a person who will oversee the treasury and the disbursement of funds targeted to struggling businesses can possibly be seen fit for the job over what he called “careless mistakes” and blamed on using “Turbo-Tax” to compute his taxes. His liability is at least $34,000 in money due the government.
To his credit, Arizona senator, Jon Kyl grilled the nominee aggressively demanding answers and refusing to accept the usual parsing the truth and flimsy excuses. Sadly, Senator Charles Grassley, the ranking Republican, acknowledged the dilemma of Geithner’s misconduct but seemed way too enamored of his possible talent for the job. If there was every an issue for which the Republican had good reason to flex some muscle this would be it. The Democrats surely derailed many Republican nominees on much lesser concerns which often smacked of political disagreement and little more not something of substance such as a candidate for a cabinet post who could not take responsibility for his taxes and a personal hire.
It’s nothing new for the Democrats to be two-faced liars. It’s the way they’ve done business for over a generation. While President Barack Obama speaks of lofty new ethical requirements including his new rules for hiring lobbyists and where his talent can work for the balance of his administration should they leave his administration, what are they doing that really has any substance? For starters, the restrictions on lobbyists could surely serve to limit the talent willing to work for the administration and some would be excluded up front. We can look at the career of Secretary Diane Auer Jones, one of the most honest and ethical people in Washington, a talent like hers would not have been appointed nor would she have been able to accept the position she accepted upon leaving her Assistant Secretary post at the Department of Education. Of course it will be interesting to see what people Obama considers lobbyists as opposed to being “activists.” Those with corporate or big institution connections would surely be lobbyists, but what of political action groups and labor unions?
That someone who has engaged in misconduct at Ted Geithner has clearly shows actions speak louder than words. There is no talent so unique and vital at time like this that there isn’t someone very qualified to run the Treasury Department who doesn’t carry Mr. Geithner’s baggage. We should also be suspicious of the Obama’s team’s vetting process for issues like this to slip through the cracks.
Undoubtly, the Senate will rubber stamp this nomination when it comes to the floor for a vote. We will be watching to see how spineless the Republicans are in dealing with this matter. Want to bet many of them will vote for confirmation?
File this under one of many articles we’ve written, WHERE’S THE OUTRAGE?
The Democratic Party led Senate Finance Committee has recommended Ted Geithner to be Secretary of the Senate with only a couple of Republican Senators raising much of an inquiry at all to this figure’s despicable conduct playing loose and dirty with his taxes and hiring a domestic worker for whom the proper taxes were not deducted.
Bill Clinton lost two nominees, Kimber Wood and Zoe Baird while George W. Bush lost Linda Chavez for the same “Nanny-gate” issues using the inside the Beltway jargon. If that alone was enough to disqualify these appointments, how can Geithner possibly slide in given his failure to pay taxes over a four year period.
How a person who will oversee the treasury and the disbursement of funds targeted to struggling businesses can possibly be seen fit for the job over what he called “careless mistakes” and blamed on using “Turbo-Tax” to compute his taxes. His liability is at least $34,000 in money due the government.
To his credit, Arizona senator, Jon Kyl grilled the nominee aggressively demanding answers and refusing to accept the usual parsing the truth and flimsy excuses. Sadly, Senator Charles Grassley, the ranking Republican, acknowledged the dilemma of Geithner’s misconduct but seemed way too enamored of his possible talent for the job. If there was every an issue for which the Republican had good reason to flex some muscle this would be it. The Democrats surely derailed many Republican nominees on much lesser concerns which often smacked of political disagreement and little more not something of substance such as a candidate for a cabinet post who could not take responsibility for his taxes and a personal hire.
It’s nothing new for the Democrats to be two-faced liars. It’s the way they’ve done business for over a generation. While President Barack Obama speaks of lofty new ethical requirements including his new rules for hiring lobbyists and where his talent can work for the balance of his administration should they leave his administration, what are they doing that really has any substance? For starters, the restrictions on lobbyists could surely serve to limit the talent willing to work for the administration and some would be excluded up front. We can look at the career of Secretary Diane Auer Jones, one of the most honest and ethical people in Washington, a talent like hers would not have been appointed nor would she have been able to accept the position she accepted upon leaving her Assistant Secretary post at the Department of Education. Of course it will be interesting to see what people Obama considers lobbyists as opposed to being “activists.” Those with corporate or big institution connections would surely be lobbyists, but what of political action groups and labor unions?
That someone who has engaged in misconduct at Ted Geithner has clearly shows actions speak louder than words. There is no talent so unique and vital at time like this that there isn’t someone very qualified to run the Treasury Department who doesn’t carry Mr. Geithner’s baggage. We should also be suspicious of the Obama’s team’s vetting process for issues like this to slip through the cracks.
Undoubtly, the Senate will rubber stamp this nomination when it comes to the floor for a vote. We will be watching to see how spineless the Republicans are in dealing with this matter. Want to bet many of them will vote for confirmation?
Failure to pay $34,023 in Federal taxes, so should a man who can't keep his own taxes in order supervise the IRS?
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