Posted by
Tom L. on Friday, February 06, 2009 6:00:00 AM
As stated by USAToday (5 February 2009): “The husband of President Obama's Labor secretary nominee [Rep. Hilda Solis] paid about $6,400 Wednesday to settle tax liens that had been outstanding for as long as 16 years against his business, the Obama administration told USA TODAY this afternoon.”
One assumes with a straight face Obama spokesman (Robert Gibbs) told USAToday: “…he thought Solis' husband, Sam Sayyad, paid the liens back because he owed the taxes, not because of White House pressure…She's not a partner in that business," Gibbs said. "We're not going to penalize her for her husband's business mistakes."
However: “Solis' financial disclosures list Sayyad's business, Sam's Foreign and DomesticAutoCenter [one of the companies against which there were liens], as one of the couple's main assets, worth between $50,000 and $100,000.”
Solis (either with or thank to her husband) now joins the growing list of senior Obama nominations who did not seem to care about paying taxes until offered a top Federal position:
Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, nominated to be secretary of Health and Human Services, failed to pay $146,000 in back taxes (he withdrew his name).
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner failed to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes while an employee at the International Monetary Fund.
Nancy Killefer, picked by President Obama to serve as the country’s chief performance officer, failed to pay unemployment taxes on household help (she withdrew her name).