Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


 ANALYSIS 
5

Senate Panel's Tax Scrutiny Hampers Confirmations

Share

(Newser) – The sheer number of tax-related problems that have slowed confirmation of Obama nominees has some insisting the process has become tougher, Time reports. Not so, says Sen. Charles Grassley. “We are vetting nominees for the current administration the same way we vetted nominees for the previous administration,” said the ranking Republican on the Finance Committee.

Whether or not the process has changed, the perception that it’s tougher is keeping nominees away: Witness the numerous unfilled positions in the Obama administration. “This is a new procedure,” one official said, “and it has created an incredible anxiety on tax issues.” Insiders say the Senate is scrutinizing discrepancies of as little as $14. “In the past,” a lawyer said, “it wouldn't be the public torture that is going on today.”

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., left, and the committee's ranking Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., left, and the committee's ranking Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.   (AP Photo)
Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle was forced to drop his bid for secretary of Health and Human Services because of tax issues.
Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle was forced to drop his bid for secretary of Health and Human Services because of tax issues.   (AP Photo)
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also had a tough time with the Senate Finance committee.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also had a tough time with the Senate Finance committee.   (AP Photo)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

Chairman Baucus and I agree that if a nominee chooses to proceed after tax issues are identified, then the public should be informed of those issues. In every case, the nominee is aware that we will make this information public. - Charles Grassley, Finance Committee

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
OFF THE GRID
11.24.09
Murdoch and Microsoft: The Mice Are Trying to Roar
11.23.09
Books Are Bad for You
5 comments
VIEWING:
 
TerrifiedCitizen
Apr 3, 09 2:41 PM CDT
More bipartisan cooperation in help getting things done... No! is the continuing refrain. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0
AClotfelter
Apr 3, 09 6:07 PM CDT
I'm sorry, but PAY YOUR F@#KING TAXES! We're not talking about $14 here, all of the ones I have heard are thousands of dollars. Uncle Sam would eat you and me alive for this, why should they be any different? Many of these people are wealthy, so they have "people" dedicated just to taking care of this... and some of these people should damn well know the tax codes, because they helped create them! Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0
IN RESPONSE:
radnip
Apr 5, 09 1:42 AM CDT
I can't wait for the truly rich to be prosecuted for tax evasion. Please, $30,000 in back taxes? I'm waiting for the people and corporations who hide millions and billions to get caught.
Vote up! Vote down!
0
oldgoat
Apr 4, 09 3:55 AM CDT
To me it shows how the tax system is such a mess. People I have heard about will get one opinion from the IRS about a problem, but when they go to a different person they get a different opinion. I wonder how much of this is a difference in how a rule is applied, a difference in the vetting process or just people just trying to get by with something Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0
IN RESPONSE:
radnip
Apr 5, 09 1:44 AM CDT
The IRS will give you an opinion but also state that it's not binding and they can still find an error if they audit you, even if you rely on their opinion. It has to be a tax decision or ruling to be relied upon. Anything else and you'll end up correcting your tax return. Probably everyone's tax return needs correcting but only those audited or scrutinized will actually get that done.
Vote up! Vote down!
0
LEAVE A
COMMENT Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.

 

Related Newser Stories

20 Stories

 Snowe to Vote for Health Bill 

She provides crucial Republican support for Obama's overhaul

Oct 13, 09 12:26 PM CDT
(AP) - Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe says she will vote for a Democratic health care bill, breaking with her party on President Obama's top legislative priority. The Maine senator kept virtually all of Washington guessing how she would vote until she announced it late in the Senate Finance Committee debate today. "... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Congress • legislation • Maine • Olympia Snowe • Republican Party • Senate Finance Committee • vote • health care reform • Max Baucus • Obama administration • bipartisan

ANALYSIS

Yea or Nay, How Health Bill Hinges on Snowe's Vote

Either way, Maine Republican will likely preserve leverage going to the floor

Oct 13, 09 10:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - The day is finally here: Olympia Snowe will have to vote one way or another on the Senate Finance Committee’s health reform bill. The Maine Republican has been coy—“It’s all about what I’m comfortable doing at the end of the day”—but that doesn’... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Congress • legislation • Olympia Snowe • Senate Finance Committee • vote • health care reform • reconciliation • Max Baucus • Obama administration

(Newser) - Reasoned debate is all well and good, but the more than 300 amendments offered to the health care reform bill by finance committee Republicans are “dangerously close to a parody,” Dana Milbank writes. Or maybe they’re already there. Take Orrin Hatch’s request for “transition relief... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Congress • Senate • GOP • Jon Kyl • legislation • Republican Party • Senate Finance Committee • Charles Grassley • health care reform • Jay Rockefeller • amendment

20 Stories


Politics 
TwitterFollow @NewserPolitics on Twitter

 
Congress • taxes • Senate Finance Committee • Charles Grassley • Senate confirmation hearings • nominee • tax records • Obama administration • Cabinet secretary

from our news partners