Politics | 03/09/2009 10:20 am

Report: IRS Tax Pro Mary Baker Helping Senate Uncover Obama Teams' Tax Woes

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

Have you wondered who’s been uncovering the skeletons in the closets of some of President Obama’s nominees?

Well, we have. And now, Politico is shedding some light onto the vetting process. It turns out that IRS employee Mary Baker — who worked on motor vehicle taxation issues at the IRS prior to 2005 — has been working with the Senate Finance Committee to help vet and bring to light tax problems with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, U.S. Trade Representative nominee and former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, and former Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Tom Daschle. She’s also getting a lot of help from Theresa Pattara, another ex-IRS official, according to Politico.

Baker’s team will scrutinize another 42 nominees before they call it quits, including 17 at the Treasury Department and Kathleen Sebelius, Obama’s latest pick for HHS secretary. Some of those nominees will be working with Geithner, who is in desperate need of some help as he tries to get the nation out of its economic doldrums. Obama will reportedly appoint three new staffers to assist Geithner today, including Kim Wallace for legislative affairs, Alan Krueger as economic policy adviser, and David Cohen for assistant secretary of terrorist financing. Geithner still needs senior deputies and undersecretaries, though.

We recently found out that former SEC member Annette Nazareth dropped out of the running, as did International Monetary Fund official Caroline Atkinson. Hopefully this new batch will work out — and Baker won’t find anything — because the clock’s ticking…

25 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Twice is better than none at all. How’re you doing? Today it is gorgeous outside and in the upper 50’s.

DeB, I’ve decided to use a different approach to this whole economy thing. We already know we are in a huge financial disruption(as Friedman so aptly called it yesterday), it’s not going away, everything angry and vile has already been said and it is what it is. But, one thing is not being discussed on these threads. Are you familiar with Krista Tippett’s Radio Show, Speaking of Faith? It’s isn’t denominational, but the show is about religion, ethics,meaning and ideas. It is the "intersection of theology and human experience, of grand religious ideas and real life."

A new series is going on now, and it is reflecting how the economic downturn affects us in our spirtual life, it’s exploring the moral and ethical aspects of the downturn, our tumultuous time and the need for trust, wisdom we can pass to our children, handling the fear and helping our neighbors. She has called upon some of our greatest thinkers to make their statements of what their thoughts are now—such as Anchee Min, Prabhu Grptara and Martin Marty. From Buddhists to Evangelicals, Catholics, Baptists, and everything in between, this show’s themes at this difficult time has convinced me that instead of just ranting and raving, blaming and complaining, we should accept this as an historical event that we are part of, and we need to look within our spirtual side to find the very best we can.

Do you think we can start a conversation here on wow(whether the masthead is looking at this, I don’t know or care)amongst ourselves about how we think about the current economic downturn in moral and spirtual terms? Do you think we can try?

http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/first-person/repossessing-virtue/

By Diana T on 03/09/2009 11:10 am

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That sounds very interesting and I’ll check out the link. Maybe you should suggest it as a wowOwow topic to the Editorial Dept. too! Maybe we can get a discussion going without them, but it gets hard in here to keep things from drifting to a bad place!

By DeBúrca obj on 03/09/2009 11:33 am

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I’m not going to let myself go to the bad places anymore. Been there, done that, and after a while everything that can be said has been said, and everybody ends up kicking the dead horse. And, I am thinking that it is a natural thing to do that because it is a way we keep from facing the fear of the new journey and how it is affecting us and what we will do.

Yes, I sent it up to contact us, this time I tapped on Community, whatever that is. You think it ought to go to Editorial?

By Diana T on 03/09/2009 11:46 am

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I just thought ‘editorial’ because it would be a topic, but ‘community’ sounds good too. Maybe both? Or, maybe whoever you send it to will forward it to the correct dept. (for all we know it’s one guy on a computer in his parents’ basement handling all the depts! lol)

By DeBúrca obj on 03/09/2009 11:49 am

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I just hope, DeB, that someone finds the post and runs with it. We all need to look within ourselves. We need substance and courage to talk about.

By Diana T on 03/09/2009 12:19 pm

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I was also going to say that I hope you take a minute to listen to some of these thinkers, and you will see where I’m going with this. Listening to them was an ah-ha moment for me, and made me inspired to share these with the others.

By Diana T on 03/09/2009 12:20 pm

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I think you are wise to stay away from the "bad places" — because from what I have observed, you are right - eventually it all dissovles into the same ole dead horse getting kicked around.

By Z **** on 03/09/2009 11:58 am

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The bottom line is this: We, in America, as well as The Whole World, are in deep trouble of our own making for the past probably 20 years. There is no point any more in name calling, getting angry, listening to these guys like Rush that use the events for their own purposes to scare and manipulate. It is what it is. Now what? How does this affect our moral spirit, our ethics and our responsibilities to our communities, our families, our children, and our own personal souls? How will this new change in our lives affect the way we change our lives? What are the positive aspects of our collective situation?

As for all the naysayers and fear mongers, I’m done, used to them, bored with them and no longer afraid. I’m ready for some substance now.

By Diana T on 03/09/2009 12:16 pm

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Diana,

I’m with you! I’ve been reading A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle- very enlightening. On the news this evening it was noted that less people are seeking organized religion during these trying times, but are becoming more spiritual. I’ve always been more spiritualistic rather than religious myself, but feel no less blessed or loved by a higher power. I too refuse to go to the bad places anymore- It’s too draining and negative, counterproductive. We are at a time in our lives where inspiration needs to be shared, not hate and fear- we already have fear, and I see no point in hate. Thanks for bringing this up, Diana. An excellent topic!

By Dee T on 03/09/2009 9:41 pm

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DT, I hope you go to the link or go to Speaking of Faith, and listen to the thoughts of these great spiritual thinkers. I can’t tell you the difference it made in the way I am looking at this whole event. The time for hand wringing is long over, the problem is so huge (I heard this evening that the world wealth has declined 50 Trillion $$ in the past 6 months), so what else can we do except think about the impact we have experienced and how we can use this time to enrich our lives and others. And, yes, New Earth is sitting on my end table right now. I meditate with Tolle often. I have his CDs on The Power of Now, which I have listened to many times, but always discover something new that my spirit needs.

By Diana T on 03/09/2009 9:53 pm

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This is not spiritual but financial. People are having a hard time contributing extra money at church. If we were rid of Obama and his administration (including the dems in congress), everything would be fine. If you believe prayers can help, great. This is the real world.

By Mike Hunt on 03/09/2009 11:30 pm

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It’s sad that so many political figures (both dem and repub) have thought they could get by with so much crookedness…hopefully the new young senators and congressmen (congresswomen) are coming in with clean slates in case they ever want to move up in politics….and stay clean!! What is good for the people that voted them in, should be good for the politicians. They need to be reminded, their past will always follow them and it will catch up!

By Libra Lady on 03/09/2009 10:58 am

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I agree, I think it would not be a bad idea to audit all current members of Congress. Maybe then they would see a need to make our tax laws more "user friendly". Understanding that humans, regardless of party affiliation, are in fact not perfect and certainly our tax code is complicated beyond the understanding of most humans — I would suggest perhaps merely having "tax problems" should not necessarily be a deal breaker.

By Z **** on 03/09/2009 11:55 am

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Three plus the 50 already there, should give Geithner the staff he needs. We can only hope.

From an article by Ben Feller, and AP writer:

"There’s about 50 political appointees that have been appointed, that are at work with Secretary Geithner in the Treasury," said Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, the Democratic National Committee chairman, when asked Sunday about the lack of key staffing at Treasury.

By Marjorie C. on 03/09/2009 11:01 am

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It stands to reason that anyone going into the political arena should arrive there as an honest citizen. The fact that so many in Obama’s administration have been "cited" for tax issues is actually a very good thing. It sets the tone and it means "business." In order to be a role model you have to adhere to the same rules and regulations that every citizen must abide by.

I am anxious every year by the time the end of January rolls around…I want to get the paperwork ready and visit the accountant. I want it done!!! Although I would love to pay less in taxes, I know the amount I pay is important to my country.

By deber B on 03/09/2009 12:53 pm