More Obama Cabinet Nominees Confirmed

The Senate tonight quickly confirmed several more people to serve in the cabinet and administration of President Obama.

Before adjourning for the weekend, the Senate through unanimous consent confirmed Susan E. Rice, to be ambassador to the United Nations; former Republican Congressman Ray LaHood to be transportation secretary; Lisa Perez Jackson to lead the Environmental Protection Agency; Shaun Donovan to be secretary of Housing and Urban Development; Nancy Helen Sutley to lead the Council on Environmental Quality, and Mary Schapiro to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.

From the Senate floor, Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, pointed out that the transportation secretary would be exceptionally busy, what with the economic stimulus package including big jobs programs involving new roads, bridges and infrastructure.

Of a few remaining high-profile nominees who have yet to be confirmed, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said tonight that two hours of debate would be set aside on Monday afternoon to consider the nomination of Timothy Geithner to be Treasury Secretary. And he set a vote for early Monday evening on the nominee, whose personal tax issues had become problematic during his hearings this week.

He also said he expected Eric Holder Jr. to be confirmed as Attorney General later next week. Mr. Holder’s nomination had been held up by Republican concerns.

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Mada January 22, 2009 ·

The Geithner love affair by our Washington politicians is another step in the lowering of ethical standards for our government officials in Washington…it seems they may have a problem paying their taxes.

There will be unintended consequences.if Geithner is approved…it opens the door to others in government that abusing our tax laws will not be a deterent for future advancement…in fact if one is a genius…not to worry.

It flies in the face, when we hear the new administration’s inaugural theme of the renewed time of responsibilty: One wonders who Mr. Obama is talking to…the American people or our elected officials in Washington?

The problems we face now in our economy reflects back to the source of power in Washington, and to the greed in the banking system and corporate America…it is not the American people…who must learn responsibilty.

President Obama made an error in the Geithner appointment…if he indeed becomes the next secretary of treasury…we will see in the future, a breakdown of moral responsiblity by our elected officials in Washington, and the start of a failed Obama administration.

monalisa2 January 22, 2009 ·

Mada is right on. Geither is Obama’s first big mistake. He’s a rich guy evading taxes and neither he, or Obama, seem to feel its a problem. Its the same kind of greed and immorality that got this country into the mess its in. Puts all the Obama blah-blah about public service in a different light.

Second, Geither decides to pick a fight with the Chinese — great timing. Obama keep his promised trillions of dollars of bailout without somebody buying all that American debt, and so far its the Chinese that have kept the US afloat. As a rule, I don’t PO the people who hold the mortgage on my house, but, hey, thats just me.

Bemused January 23, 2009 ·

With Obama standing behind his nomination of Geithner for Treasury head, it goes along way to show his “new ethical standards”. Kinda like the old Chicago ones.

angelicious January 23, 2009 ·

RE: #2
All this talk about Obama’s “First Big Mistake” is misguided and unnecessary. If anyone ever believed the right-wing naysayers, we’d think he’d made nothing but mistakes ever since he won the elections – the confusion around rahm emmanuel’s appointment as chief of staff, the blago controversy, the hoopla around Rick Warren’s selection for the inauguration invocation, etc. Well, guess what – no one ever said he was the messiah. He is certainly entitled to some mistakes especially given the difficult conditions he inherited from Dubya, who by the way did nothing but blunder through his own 2 terms. People need to get over this whole witch hunt mentality – Geithner’s tax problems, or the fact that he is “a rich guy” doesn’t automatically make him immoral, or greedy, or unqualified for the post of treasury secretary. Rather than whinning and delaying his confirmation, wouldn’t we all be better off if he got to work fixing our tanked economy?

ren January 23, 2009 ·

If Geithner is the best guy for the job, flaws and all, I’m willing to let Mr. Obama have his pick.

While I don’t make any excuses for Geithner’s mistakes, given his resources and expertise, I do think he brings a lot to the table.

I made the same reporting mistake on my taxes a few years ago. The numbers weren’t as big, but it was every bit as embarassing and distressing. I paid the tax and paid the fine. The IRS was satisfied, I was relieved and life went on.

For me, transparency is not that there are no mistakes made. It is the idea that when mistakes are made, they are addressed, corrected and serve as lessons for future behavior.

Roz January 23, 2009 ·

@ Mada #1

I see your point. However, is having the best & brightest for this tough economy time of no concern to you?

If not Geithner, then who?

Francis Edmonds, Berlin January 23, 2009 ·

Given that he has rectified the mistake to the satisfaction of the IRS, the question is one of whether he will repeat it in some way. Apparently the concensus is that he won’t. That’s plenty good for me. Part of the American Dream is that forgiveness is available, that we are able to forget.

Dave Cake January 23, 2009 ·

A perfect choice and one that will lead to an exciting and very contested race in 2 years. Patterson was a little slow on the trigger but it did allow time for Caroline to drop out. Now the question is , where does this leave Patterson. Will cuomo be breathing down his next when his term expires?

John D. January 23, 2009 ·

The nomination of Timothy Geithner to be Treasury Secretary is a huge mistake. I’ve been predicting one of the most corrupt administrations in U.S. history and this is how it starts…appointing a fellow who breaks the law after it was fully explained to him by his employer. I guess Gov. Blagojevich is still in charge of teaching ethics to Obama administration.

Urmiah Lynch January 23, 2009 ·

No doubt, it is very difficult, even for tax accountants, to understand the tax reporting system for Americans who work at international organizations. International organizations do not withhold taxes nor pay the employer contributions. It is solely the employee’s responsibility. Now, most tax accountants do not know this and, in Mr. Geithner’s case, obviously repeated the mistake over the years he was serving the IMF. I was in a similar situation based on advice from my tax accountant. Luckily for me the IRS noticed the error 2 years after I had filed; accepted my explanation and back taxes (fines too). As long as Mr. G. does not work for an IO, the incident cannot be repeated and there is no need for hysteria. A mountain out of molehill — not disqualification of a competent man from serving his country.
Flo

Akamai January 24, 2009 ·

These comments are so full of the usual old right wing vitriol. BORING!! It looks as if these folks have permanent psychological damage and are incapable of anything positive. Not people I want to hang out with.

Steve Bolger January 25, 2009 ·

The people who are vetting Mr. Geithner for this job have themselves been complicit in borrowing from Peter (the “little people” whose income tax burden is almost exclusively Social Security and Medicare taxes) to pay Paul (the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds) in a shell-game purported to finance the baby-boomer retirement. We now hear of “entitlement reform” from a newly elected Democratic president. If we do need this “entitlement reform”, it is necessary because stewardship of the full faith and credit of the US government has been so awful for the past 30 years.

Fx Trading Education March 2, 2009 ·

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