On May 29th Bloomberg reported Elizabeth Garrett’s withdrawal as President Barack Obama’s pick for Assistant Treasury Secretary for Tax Policy. If he doesn’t find someone soon, he’s going to have a hard time pushing any of his ideas through.
Garrett turned down the job, citing “aspects of my personal family situation” for her decision. Failing to find a suitable candidate for this very important position isn’t helping Obama out his effort to persuade Congress to change US tax rules to allow companies to avoid taxes on their foreign profits.
From Bloomberg:
“This is a bad time not to have a point person inside the administration for tax policy,” said Alex Brill, a tax expert at the American Enterprise Institute. Obama “has proposed an aggressive and controversial series of tax increases on multinational corporations,” Brill said, adding that the president’s push for “health-care reform and energy policy reform are expected to have major tax components to them.”
Delinquent Taxes Plague Obama’s Picks
While we have no reason to believe Garrett turned down this high profile position due to any delinquent tax situation, other of Obama’s cabinet picks have withdrawn due to IRS troubles. Tom Daschle was set to serve as the Health and Human Services secretary, and Nancy Killefer, was Obama’s choice for deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. Both withdrew their nominations when questions about errors in their tax payments surfaced.
Who is Elizabeth Garrett?
Elizabeth Garrett is a lawyer and University of Southern California economist. She was nominated to the top tax-policy post in March with a background in academia. She also worked as a tax aide to former Senator David Boren, and served on former President George W. Bush’s 2005 tax overhaul advisory panel. And according to Mark Weinberger, Bush’s first assistant Treasury secretary for tax policy, Garrett is respected across the aisle. He says we’ve got to have someone in place:
“There are policy proposals on the table that fundamentally change the way we tax ourselves,” said Weinberger, now global tax vice chairman at accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP. “I don’t see how one can move forward without someone at the helm.”
Obama’s Tax Agenda
- Tax changes reportedly on the agenda from Obama’s crew:
- More than $1 trillion in higher taxes on upper-income individuals and corporations
- Of the above $1 trillions, $190 billion to be recouped by outlawing offshore tax-avoidance schemes entrenched in the corporate tax code.
- New taxes on life insurers, securities brokers and private equity executives.
- Increase in tax rates for households earning more than $200,000 in 2011.
Source: Bloomberg
