Wanted: Assistant Treasury Secretary for Tax Policy. Must love taxes and be willing to undergo grueling nomination process. Also important to demonstrate understanding that everyone will hate what you do.
As it turns out, nobody seems to want that job.
Funny, at a time when the public is highly critical of the Treasury – clearly linked to our sucky economy – job applicants to fill some of the highest positions have been few and far between. Several key positions remain empty and Assistant Treasury Secretary for Tax Policy is one of them: earlier today, Helen Elizabeth Garrett withdrew her nomination for the job, citing “aspects of my personal family situation.” I think those aspects involved her family screaming, “What could you possibly be thinking?!”
Garrett is not a stranger to DC politics, despite serving as faculty at USC. She likely would have had bipartisan support, having worked as a tax aide for former Sen David Boren (D-OK) and sat on former President George Bush’s 2005 tax advisory panel. Mark Weinberger, Bush’s first Assistant Treasury Secretary for Tax Policy, believed that Garrett was well regarded by Democrats and Republicans.
There is no disputing that Garrett’s withdrawal leaves a big hole at the top of the Treasury. Obama has recently publicized a series of aggressive tax positions, including targeting multinational corporations and high net worth individuals utilizing tax havens, which have made tax policy a hot button item in this administration. Additionally, the administration is expected to announce tax-related initiatives in the health care and energy industries. All of this comes at a time when the feds and most states are facing massive budget shortfalls and revenues are expected to decrease.
The Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy would be the public face for the administration’s tax policies. In other words, Obama’s tax policy wonk. It’s a job that apparently nobody wants (can you blame them?).
Jeff Trinca, a tax policy lobbyist and friend of Garrett, says, “The nomination process has gotten so harsh that good people like Beth are unwilling to put them and their families through the wringer.”
So who does that leave?
But on the bright side if she DID decide to throw her hat in the ring she need not worry about any prior personal tax snafus. The requirement to have a clean compliance record appears to have been temporarily suspended by the Obama administration and the Senate. Confirmation may be grueling, but if the Treasury Secretary can get the job with a set of facts that sends others to jail it’s hard to imagine what it takes to NOT get confirmed.
If she hasn’t avoided paying her taxes in some way, she does not qualify to be in the Obama administration. He usually prefers tax cheats.
Here’s my honest take. If Garrett is taking a pass because it’s going to be a hard, uncomfortable and unsavory confirmation process then she’s not the person for the job. It seems that during the last seven months the rules of politics and public service have been re-written. Nothing is supposed to be questioned, debated, or undressed in the public square. Bi-partisanship is the only acceptable form of public discourse.
What? Partisanship is what makes a republic work. Tough confirmation hearings (are you listening SCOTUS nominees?) insure the best, brightest and hopefully most trustworthy individuals are appointed. As the saying goes, if you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen. Garrett doesn’t appear to have the mettle to make a difference in such an important position and it’s better to find that out before she sits down behind the tax policy desk.
Beth Garrett is brave and brilliant–If she says she’s reconsidering because of aspects of her personal family situation, I take her at her word. She has the mettle, and the creativity…
Beth Garrett is one of the brightest people I know. I have had the extreme honor and pleasure of working with her at USC. This is a sad day for our country, because she truly is someone we could have looked to and respected in the Treasury. I guess the good news – she will be coming back to USC. Loss for the US is definetely our gain!
I attended the University of Oklahoma with Beth Garret. I had the pleasure (displasure at that time) of taking a class with her: American Renaissance Literature. I always viewed her as a conservative, myopic sorority girl (I believe Chi Omeega) during our time at OU. She was deeply involved in Student Congress in a leadership capacity. She was also a great public speaker, with such clear and distinct diction. Because of my opinion of her, I never initiated any dialogue with her, not even a “hello,” even when we sat next to each other on one occasion in class. I must say, in retrospect, she was quite impressive then, and is even more impressive in her accomplishments now, Most recently, she was appointed the Provost at USC. I would not be surprised is she takes over the helm as president of OU once Boren leaves. If not that, don’t be surprised if her name comes up as apotential nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court.