What's With Tax Evaders and Conflict of Interest Nominees for High Level Administration Positions?
What is with candidates for high level position in the Obama administration who don't pay their taxes?
There was Tim Geithner, the Treasury Secretary and Tom Daschle who withdrew his nomination for secretary of HHS.
The latest addition to this shameful roster is Ron Kirk, former Dallas mayor, and nominee for US Trade Representative who has agreed to pay his back taxes.
The Caucus at the NYTimes reports: "Ron Kirk, the nominee to serve as the United States trade representative in the Obama administration, has agreed to pay $10,000 in back taxes for speaking fees that he did not report as income and for deducting the cost of season tickets to the Dallas Mavericks basketball games.
"The Senate Finance Committee issued a report Monday outlining the tax issue for Mr. Kirk, the latest in a series of appointees of the Obama administration who have run into tax troubles in their confirmation process. The findings did not appear to threaten his confirmation.
"Investigators on the committee found that Mr. Kirk routinely donated any speaking fees he earned to Austin College, his alma mater, instead of reporting the money as income. His tax bill was lowered by $5,800, the committee said. He also deducted more than $17,000 in entertainment expenses for the Mavericks’ tickets, the committee said, which was about twice as much as he could substantiate as an expense."
And then we have a plethora of those who worked for private corporations that might result in conflict of interest in the new administration positions, like the new health care czar.
From ProPublica: "Nancy-Ann DeParle, Obama’s newly named health care czar, currently sits on the boards of at least three health care companies [3]. She will have to resign, of course, but it seems something of a violation of the Obama rule barring his underlings from working on issues affecting their former employers for two years.. An unnamed administration source said she will recuse herself from dealing with issues that affect the companies, but that could be difficult, given that one, Cerner [4], is a leading maker of electronic health records."
The Obama administration seems to be living in a bubble of an apparently limited pool of candidates.
However, it stretches credulity that in the 21st century, tax evaders and conflict of interest individuals are the only exceptionally qualified candidates for these posts.
They are not.
There was Tim Geithner, the Treasury Secretary and Tom Daschle who withdrew his nomination for secretary of HHS.
The latest addition to this shameful roster is Ron Kirk, former Dallas mayor, and nominee for US Trade Representative who has agreed to pay his back taxes.
The Caucus at the NYTimes reports: "Ron Kirk, the nominee to serve as the United States trade representative in the Obama administration, has agreed to pay $10,000 in back taxes for speaking fees that he did not report as income and for deducting the cost of season tickets to the Dallas Mavericks basketball games.
"The Senate Finance Committee issued a report Monday outlining the tax issue for Mr. Kirk, the latest in a series of appointees of the Obama administration who have run into tax troubles in their confirmation process. The findings did not appear to threaten his confirmation.
"Investigators on the committee found that Mr. Kirk routinely donated any speaking fees he earned to Austin College, his alma mater, instead of reporting the money as income. His tax bill was lowered by $5,800, the committee said. He also deducted more than $17,000 in entertainment expenses for the Mavericks’ tickets, the committee said, which was about twice as much as he could substantiate as an expense."
And then we have a plethora of those who worked for private corporations that might result in conflict of interest in the new administration positions, like the new health care czar.
From ProPublica: "Nancy-Ann DeParle, Obama’s newly named health care czar, currently sits on the boards of at least three health care companies [3]. She will have to resign, of course, but it seems something of a violation of the Obama rule barring his underlings from working on issues affecting their former employers for two years.. An unnamed administration source said she will recuse herself from dealing with issues that affect the companies, but that could be difficult, given that one, Cerner [4], is a leading maker of electronic health records."
The Obama administration seems to be living in a bubble of an apparently limited pool of candidates.
However, it stretches credulity that in the 21st century, tax evaders and conflict of interest individuals are the only exceptionally qualified candidates for these posts.
They are not.
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