President Obama’s promise to set a new ethical standard in politics took
another knock today when his budget enforcer was forced to withdraw amid
revelations that she did not pay her taxes on time.
Nancy Killefer, a director of the McKinsey management consultancy firm whose
brief was to cut waste and improve government efficiency, is the third
member of the White House team to encounter trouble over her personal
finances. Reports said that she failed for over a a year and a half to pay
employment taxes for her domestic help.
Ms Killefer’s decision to withdraw her nomination follows similar
controversies with Tim Geithner and Tom Daschle over their failure to pay
back taxes.
Mr Geithner was confirmed as Treasury Secretary only after he apologised for
his belated payment of tens of thousands of dollars in back taxes which he
owed from his time working for the International Monetary Fund.
Mr Daschle's prospects of receiving Senate confirmation for the position as
Health Secretary are hanging in the balance after he admitted that he was "deeply
embarrassed and disappointed" by his failure to pay $128,000 (£89,000)
in taxes for a car and driver provided to him by a wealthy Democratic donor.
The latest disclosures involving Ms Killefer have dismayed Mr Obama. Today he
nominated a Republican Senator, Judd Gregg, for the post of Commerce
Secretary, which was vacant after the withdrawal of Bill Richardson amid
allegations that the New Mexico governor channelled state contracts to a
firm that had donated to his campaigns.
The appointment of Mr Gregg, a Republican senator and fiscal conservative,
signalled Mr Obama’s readiness to seek bi-partisan support in Congress for
an economic package that is perceived as profligate by his opponents.
The White House is frustrated by accusations of double standards, saying that
they serve as a distraction from the $890 billion Economic Stimulus Bill,
which comes before Congress this week.
Mr Obama conducted five interviews with America's major TV networks today in
an effort to sell the package to a sceptical public and Congress.
Democrats have been criticised by some strategists for losing the spin war,
with Republican critics using the past fortnight to paint the Bill as a
big-spending bonanza for special interests that will not create as many jobs
as promised.
According to the liberal website, Thinkprogress.org, Republican members of
Congress have appeared twice as often as their Democratic counterparts on
television and radio in the debate on the economic stimulus.
Although a Gallup poll showed that three-quarters of Americans want Congress
to pass some version of the plan, support for the package as currently
proposed fell to 38 percent – 28 points below Mr Obama’s approval rating.
More than half of those surveyed either want major changes or an outright
rejection of the Bill.
Mr Obama was reported today to have vented his frustrations at the public
perception of the Bill at a meeting with the Democratic Congressional
leadership.
He is said to have taken a blunt tone with Harry Reid, the Senate Leader, and
Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, urging them to
make sizeable cuts to the Bill so that it gain bi-partisan support.
The President is expected to back Republican calls to remove some of the more
unpopular spending even as he faces pressure to increase the cost of the
Bill by as much as $50 billion through additional public works programmes
and tax credits for lower-income families or home buyers.
He is also mobilising his 13 million grassroots activists to prod Congress
into backing the Bill.
In an e-mail issued by the Democratic National Committee, the President urged
voters to host or attend a neighbour's "Economic Recovery House Meeting"
this weekend, where a videotaped message from party chairman Tim Kaine would
be played to answer questions about the stimulus spending.
"I hope to sign the recovery plan into law in the next few weeks,"
Mr Obama said in the e-mail. "But I need your help to spread the word
and build support."
