Performance Czar Killefer Withdraws Candidacy
By LAURA MECKLER www.wsj.com
Nancy Killefer, nominated by President Barack Obama to be the federal government's first chief performance officer, is withdrawing from the post, the White House said Tuesday.
Killefer's Letter to Obama"I recognize that your agenda and the duties facing your Chief Performance Officer are urgent," Killefer wrote in a letter to the president asking him to withdraw her name. "I have also come to realize in the current environment that my personal tax issue of D.C. Unemployment tax could be used to create exactly the kind of distraction and delay those duties must avoid."
A White House spokeswoman said more information would be released later in the day.
In making the appointment, Mr. Obama said the appointment of Ms. Killefer, an executive at the consulting firm McKinsey & Co., was "among the most important that I will make."
Ms. Killefer, 55 years old, failed to pay employment taxes on household help for a year and a half, the Associated Press reported. In 2005, the AP said, the District of Columbia filed a $946.69 tax lien on her home for failure to pay the unemployment compensation tax. The error was resolved five months later.
Ms. Killefer is the third Obama nominee to confront tax problems. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was confirmed despite disclosure about his failure to pay certain taxes. Tom Daschle, Obama's pick for Health and Human Services, is under scrutiny for his delinquent payment of some $140,000 in taxes and interest.
An administration official confirmed that she is withdrawing over a tax problem. The official said that the matter surfacing during the vetting that took place before her nomination was announced and the Obama team decided to move forward anyway.
What hasn't changed is the Republican and media attention to this issue when a Democrat takes the presidency. The same thing happened to Clinton appointees. But somehow the Bush Junior administration hired more people with criminal records than any administration in our history, as well as giving appointees to many departments (Justice for one) a litmus test on their religious beliefs (!) and the media let all that slide. But tax problems for Democrats becomes a giant issue. Have you ever used a cleaning lady you didn't pay taxes for? Or gotten freebies you didn't pay taxes on (ala Daschle) or had someone else do your taxes and mess up (ala Geithner)?
ReplyDeletePS: I don't mean "you" literary, generically, all of us "yous" so to speak.
ReplyDeleteThats not the point. We get Geithner, and his irresponsibility was more egregious considering his new role. The point is that Obama gets elected on a movement for change. Picking Daschle in first place doesn't even come close to change considering how long he has been in DC and the ties of his lobbyist wife. If it starts smelling you gotta go. I wouldn't stand for Phil Gramm and his wife either. And there are enough criminals on both sides of isle. Look at Rangle. He should resign. Didnt' know I had to pay taxes, yeah right. We all can forgive plenty, but it is suppose to be different because Obama is different. Even I know a car is income by IRS. And I ain't that smart.
ReplyDelete