
 |
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon With its colorful cache of purples and oranges and reds, COLLARD GREEN SLAW is a marvelous mood booster --- not to mention just downright delish
April 18, 2014
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Clarifying one of the greatest philosophical conundrums in theology
John Ericson: Trying hard to be 'positive' but never succeeding? Blame Your Brain
The Kosher Gourmet by Julie Rothman Almondy, flourless torta del re (Italian king's cake), has royal roots, is simple to make, . . . but devour it because it's simply delicious
April 14, 2014
Rabbi Dr Naftali Brawer: Passover frees us from the tyranny of time
Eric Schulzke: First degree: How America really recovered from a murder epidemic
Georgia Lee: When love is not enough: Teaching your kids about the realities of adult relationships
Gordon Pape: How you can tell if your financial adviser is setting you up for potential ruin
Dana Dovey: Up to 500,000 people die each year from hepatitis C-related liver disease. New Treatment Has Over 90% Success Rate
Justin Caba: Eating Watermelon Can Help Control High Blood Pressure
April 11, 2014
Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Silence is much more than golden
Susan Swann: How to value a child for who he is, not just what he does
Susan Scutti: A Simple Blood Test Might Soon Diagnose Cancer
Chris Weller: Have A Slow Metabolism? Let Science Speed It Up For You
April 9, 2014
Jonathan Tobin: Why Did Kerry Lie About Israeli Blame?
Samuel G. Freedman: A resolution 70 years later for a father's unsettling legacy of ashes from Dachau
Jessica Ivins: A resolution 70 years later for a father's unsettling legacy of ashes from Dachau
Matthew Mientka: How Beans, Peas, And Chickpeas Cleanse Bad Cholesterol and Lowers Risk of Heart Disease
April 8, 2014
Dana Dovey: Coffee Drinkers Rejoice! Your Cup Of Joe Can Prevent Death From Liver Disease
Chris Weller: Electric 'Thinking Cap' Puts Your Brain Power Into High Gear
April 4, 2014
Amy Peterson: A life of love: How to build lasting relationships with your children
John Ericson: Older Women: Save Your Heart, Prevent Stroke Don't Drink Diet
John Ericson: Why 50 million Americans will still have spring allergies after taking meds
Sarah Boesveld: Teacher keeps promise to mail thousands of former students letters written by their past selves
April 2, 2014
Dan Barry: Should South Carolina Jews be forced to maintain this chimney built by Germans serving the Nazis?
Frank Clayton: Get happy: 20 scientifically proven happiness activities
Susan Scutti: It's Genetic! Obesity and the 'Carb Breakdown' Gene
|
| |
Jewish World Review
April 2, 2009
/ 8 Nisan 5769
Capitol Hill's New Role of Tax Collector
By
Bob Tyrrell
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
It has happened again! Another Obama nominee has admitted to tax problems. Health and Human Services nominee Kathleen Sebelius has admitted to irregularities in her tax returns extending over the past three years. She has made good by sending off a check for $7,000. Sebelius claims that problems were discovered by her accountant as she prepared for her confirmation hearings and that the debt was the consequence of "unintentional errors." Incidentally, when she was committing those errors, she was governor of Kansas.
According to my calculations, that makes five Obama nominees who have reported similar tax irregularities, none of which was discovered until the nominees began making preparations for their confirmation hearings. Others who have benefited the U.S. Treasury by submitting to confirmation hearings include former New York Fed President Timothy Geithner and former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk. Geithner discovered that he owed the government $34,000 and paid promptly. He is now secretary of treasury. Kirk discovered that he owed nearly $10,000 and presumably also paid promptly, for on March 18, he was confirmed as U.S. trade representative.
Two other Obama administration nominees withdrew from consideration when their tax problems were discovered. They are Nancy Killefer who was nominated to be chief performance officer, or White House performance czar, before it was discovered that there was a $946 lien on her house for her failure to pay unemployment compensation tax on household help and, of course, former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, who withdrew his nomination to head Health and Human Services after it was discovered that he owed $140,000 in taxes and interest. Daschle also became a millionaire while serving as one of Washington's hated lobbyists. The Obama administration is highly critical of lobbyists and also of millionaires.
All of this suggests that the Internal Revenue Service may have hit on a novel way to get tax cheats to pay up: nominate them to high government service.
Given President Barack Obama's pledge to reform government, it is somewhat surprising to read of all these tax cheats among his nominees. On the other hand, the fact that so many high-level Democrats fail to pay their taxes might explain why they are such staunch advocates of raising taxes. They themselves do not pay them until they face confirmation hearings. Not that tax irregularities were the only problem faced by an Obama nominee. There was the former Democratic presidential candidate who decided to withdraw his nomination for secretary of commerce when someone told him that his pending grand jury investigation might not look good during his confirmation hearings. That would be Bill Richardson, who is the governor of New Mexico and was ambassador to the United Nations during the Clinton administration. You might recall that during the Clinton High Jinks, Ambassador Richardson served as headhunter (if that is the right term) for the curvaceous Monica Lewinsky when the heat was on.
Ethics may yet become an issue with the Obama administration, which, like the Clinton administration, came to Washington promising an administration of unparalleled ethical purity. The $410 billion omnibus spending bill is a cornucopia for graft. The $787 billion stimulus bill is yet another cornucopia for graft. Then there is the problem recently editorialized upon by The Wall Street Journal.
It appears that the Treasury Department's plan for toxic-asset purchases is going to be limited to a handful of huge companies bidding on the toxic assets and managing them. The Journal was too polite to bring up the term "crony capitalism," but it did speak of the possibility that these few firms will reap huge profits in a toxic-asset purchase plan that might be of only limited effect. "We have no idea if Treasury is playing favorites," the Journal editorialized, "but it certainly doesn't look good. All the more so given that some of these big players may have consulted informally with the Obama Administration as it was writing the plan."
What might be done to vet this plan? Perhaps it could be sent up to Capitol Hill for a confirmation hearing. We have already seen the Hill's hygienic effect on Obama nominees.
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 Bob Tyrrell is editor in chief of The American Spectator. Comment by clicking here.
Archives
© 2008, Creators Syndicate
|
|
Columnists
Toons
Lifestyles
|