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?
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