Senate confirms Geithner as treasury secretary

[NewsBot]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy Geithner won confirmation Monday as President Barack Obama's treasury secretary despite personal tax lapses that turned more than a third of the Senate against him....

By LAURIE KELLMAN

Read the full story.

 

[snafu]

Well I just shot off my thanks for nothing email to my senator for this. I guess 98% of America doesn't make a bit of difference. You would think our elected leaders would vote for their constituencies. I guess I was being to optimistic.

 

[ImWithStupid]

I just see it as a huge push for Turbo Tax. Now if anyone who used it, and gets audited by the IRS, can say, "I just followed what TurboTax said." like Geithner, and we will have an out.

 

[snafu]

I'm really trying to hope for the best but it's one stab after another.

 

[ImWithStupid]

.

 

[ImWithStupid]

Or how about the claim that...

Section 1. Ethics Pledge. Every appointee in every executive agency appointed on or after January 20, 2009, shall sign, and upon signing shall be contractually committed to, the following pledge upon becoming an appointee:
"As a condition, and in consideration, of my employment in the United States Government in a position invested with the public trust, I commit myself to the following obligations, which I understand are binding on me and are enforceable under law:

"1. Lobbyist Gift Ban. I will not accept gifts from registered lobbyists or lobbying organizations for the duration of my service as an appointee.

"2. Revolving Door Ban All Appointees Entering Government. I will not for a period of 2 years from the date of my appointment participate in any particular matter involving specific parties that is directly and substantially related to my former employer or former clients, including regulations and contracts.

 


"3. Revolving Door Ban Lobbyists Entering Government. If I was a registered lobbyist within the 2 years before the date of my appointment, in addition to abiding by the limitations of paragraph 2, I will not for a period of 2 years after the date of my appointment:

 


(a) participate in any particular matter on which I lobbied within the 2 years before the date of my appointment;

 


(b) participate in the specific issue area in which that particular matter falls; or

 


© seek or accept employment with any executive agency that I lobbied within the 2 years before the date of my appointment.

Executive Order - Ethics Commitments
That was January 20th 2009, but after two whole days...

Mr. Obama's nominee for deputy secretary of defense, William Lynn, has been a lobbyist for the defense contractor Raytheon, and his nominee for deputy secretary of health and human services, William V. Corr, lobbied for stricter tobacco regulations as an official with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
A senior White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, conceded the two nominees did not adhere to the new rules. But he said that Mr. Lynn had the support of Republicans and Democrats, and would receive a waiver under the policy, and that Mr. Corr did not need a waiver because he had agreed to recuse himself from tobacco issues.

No Lobbyist in the Obama Administration ... Except When There Is One - Robert Schlesinger (usnews.com)

Artist: The WhoAlbum: Then And Now! - 1964-2004

Year: 2004

Title: Won't Get Fooled Again

Lyrics to Won't Get Fooled Again :

We'll be fighting in the streets

With our children at our feet

And the morals that they worship will be gone

And the men who spurred us on

Sit in judgement of all wrong

They decide and the shotgun sings the song

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution

Take a bow for the new revolution

Smile and grin at the change all around

Pick up my guitar and play

Just like yesterday

Then I'll get on my knees and pray

We don't get fooled again

The change, it had to come

We knew it all along

We were liberated from the fold, that's all

And the world looks just the same

And history ain't changed

'Cause the banners, they are flown in the next war

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution

Take a bow for the new revolution

Smile and grin at the change all around

Pick up my guitar and play

Just like yesterday

Then I'll get on my knees and pray

We don't get fooled again

No, no!

I'll move myself and my family aside

If we happen to be left half alive

I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky

Though I know that the hypnotized never lie

Do ya?

There's nothing in the streets

Looks any different to me

And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye

And the parting on the left

Are now parting on the right

And the beards have all grown longer overnight

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution

Take a bow for the new revolution

Smile and grin at the change all around

Pick up my guitar and play

Just like yesterday

Then I'll get on my knees and pray

We don't get fooled again

Don't get fooled again

No, no!

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Meet the new boss


Same as the old boss

Where's the change?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp6-wG5LLqE]YouTube - Wont Get Fooled Again[/ame]

 

[ImWithStupid]

Well it's now been eight days and we're up to three high level appointees that are lobbyists...

Jan 28, 7:45 PM EST
Ex-Goldman lobbyist now Geithner's right-hand man




By PETE YOST

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House on Wednesday defended Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's choice of Mark Patterson - an ex-lobbyist from Goldman Sachs - to be his chief of staff.

The selection is at least the third high-profile exception to a policy by President Barack Obama that says no one who has lobbied on a set of issues within the past two years can take a role in his administration that deals with the same subject matter.

Associated Press - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper

More "Change We Can Pretend".

 

[ImWithStupid]

I'm starting to understand why wealthy Democrats don't mind that Obama wants to raise the taxes on the wealty (and let's be honest, everyone else that actually pays taxes, the rest get a check)

Tax Troubles Arise for 2nd Obama Cabinet Nominee
By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press Writer Kevin Freking, Associated Press Writer ? Sat Jan 31, 11:32 am ET

WASHINGTON ? Former Sen. Tom Daschle's failure to pay his taxes on time isn't expected to derail his confirmation as health secretary for the Obama administration, Republicans and Democrats say.

Daschle, the South Dakota Democrat chosen to lead President Obama's health reform efforts, recently filed amended tax returns to report $128,203 in back taxes and $11,964 in interest, according to a Senate document obtained by The Associated Press.

Tax troubles arise for 2nd Obama Cabinet nominee - Yahoo! News
They don't pay their taxes anyway. Unless they get caught, then it's, "oops. Sorry"

 

[ImWithStupid]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMPRXdRPNF4&feature=channel_page]YouTube - taxes[/ame]

?Make no mistake. Tax cheaters cheat us all. The IRS should enforce our laws to the letter.? ~ Senator Tom Daschle?s take on tax cheaters in 1998

 

[ImWithStupid]

NEXT!!!

Performance Czar Withdraws Candidacy

Feruary 3rd, 2009

By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN and LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON ? Nancy Killefer, who failed for a year and a half to pay employment taxes on household help, has withdrawn her candidacy to be the first chief performance officer for the federal government, the White House said Tuesday.

Killefer was the second major Obama administration nominee to withdraw and the third to have tax problems complicate their nomination after President Barack Obama announced their selection.

"Nancy Killefer has decided to withdraw her nomination, and we accepted her withdrawal," Tommy Vietor, a White House spokesman, said Tuesday. The 55-year-old executive with consulting giant McKinsey & Co., was expected to explain her reasons for pulling out later in the day.

When her selection was announced by Obama on Jan. 7, The Associated Press disclosed that in 2005 the District of Columbia government had filed a $946.69 tax lien on her home for failure to pay unemployment compensation tax on household help.

Official: Performance czar withdraws candidacy - Yahoo! News

 

[ImWithStupid]

I don't remember, what was it Tom Daschle didn't pay taxes on? Oh yea, his free luxury car and driver...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avG9DvLi-aQ]YouTube - TomDaschleAd[/ame]

 

[ImWithStupid]

I've lost track. How many is that now?

Trade nominee Ron Kirk agrees to pay back taxes

By DAVID ESPO ? 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Ron Kirk, nominated as U.S. Trade Representative in the Obama administration, owes an estimated $10,000 in back taxes from earlier in the decade and has agreed to make his payments, the Senate Finance Committee said Monday.

The committee said the taxes arise from Kirk's handling of speaking fees that he donated to his alma mater, and for his deduction of the full cost of season tickets to the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team.

The disclosure made the former Dallas mayor the latest in a string of top-level Obama administration appointees found to have underpaid their taxes, following Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Tom Daschle, who withdrew as candidate for Health and Human Services secretary. Nancy Killefer, Obama's pick for chief performance officer, also bowed out amid tax problems.

 

[snafu]

I've lost track. How many is that now?

I think Obama can clear the deficit just by keep appointing people to his cabinet.

 

[ImWithStupid]

As if they guy hasn't done enough to harm national security at a break speed pace...

Obama Appointee in Classified Info Scandal

Thursday, February 19, 2009 11:53 AM

By: Ronald Kessler

The appointment of John Deutch to an advisory panel on spy satellites violates President Obama?s pledge to hold everyone in his administration to the highest ethical standards.

Deutch, who headed the CIA from May 1995 to December 1996, agreed in writing in January 2001 to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents. Just after that, President Clinton pardoned him and 175 others as Clinton was leaving office. Deutch?s infraction was thus more serious than Tim Geithner?s or Tom Daschle?s failure to pay income taxes.

?Deutch essentially walked away from what is one of the most egregious cases of mishandling of classified information that I have ever seen, short of espionage,? Sen. Richard C. Shelby, R-Ala., chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said after the pardon was announced.

Deutch placed 17,000 CIA files, including files classified TOP SECRET/CODEWORD and those referring to highly sensitive covert operations, on his unclassified home computers. One such file was a memo to Clinton and then-Vice President Al Gore. It noted that the information was so sensitive that Deutch was sending it to only a few other people, including FBI Director Louis Freeh and Secretary of State Warren Christopher.

Because the computers connected to the Internet, and because Deutch often gave out his e-mail address, foreign intelligence services could easily have downloaded classified material from his computer.

Newsmax.com - Obama Appointee in Classified Info Scandal