The Reason Behind Annette Nazareth's Nomination Withdrawal

She wouldn't be able to stand up to the scrutiny of her former job. What was her job that has brought such consternation and forced her to withdraw her name from consideration?

Nazareth headed the Security and Exchange Commission's market regulation division, where she was responsible for designing the "oversight" that missed Wall Street’s excessive risk taking.

I can see why that would be a problem. I also wonder why Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner thought she was the right person for the job in consideration given the fact that the regime that Nazareth put in place completely missed the warning signs of the credit melt-down and the toxic paper crisis? Once again, it looks like Geithner's judgment isn't what it needs to be.

Complicating matters is that Geithner is having trouble filling all of the needed positions surrounding him. Paul Volcker, who is Obama's Economic Advisory Board Chairman, and a former Chair of the Federal Reserve, believes that the inability to fill the other treasury slots is hurting Geithner's ability to deal with the multiple economic problems.

Who is supposed to fill those vacancies and new positions needed to untangle the toxic paper mess? Why it's going to end up being many of the same people who created the mess in the first place - and that's why Nazareth's nomination is so troubling on so many levels. You also have many players in Congress who are just as responsible for creating this mess - like Chris Dodd and Barney Frank - but who aren't going to recuse themselves from acting on these various issues despite conflicts of interest and their own incompetence.

Obama Nomination Muddle Continues

President Obama's nomination for Surgeon General, Sanjay Gupta, has withdrawn his name from contention. That comes on the heels of the Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's choice for his deputy withdrawing her name:

Annette Nazareth, a former senior staffer and commissioner with the Securities and Exchange Commission, withdrew after several interviews and vetting of her financial history, a person familiar with Nazareth's decision said.

But this person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Geithner never publicly named Nazareth as his choice, said no problems with her taxes or other issues arose.

Nazareth, a partner at the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, could not be reached for comment. Treasury and White House officials would not comment on the matter.

Funny, but since when has tax trouble disqualified any of Obama's nominations? After all, Geithner, who now heads the Treasury Department which oversees the IRS, skipped paying thousands of dollars in taxes over the years.

Once again, Obama's judgment of character continues to be wanting and his team of vetters should themselves be vetted for competency.

UPDATE:
Add to that the troubling and troubled nomination of Chas Freeman as chair of the National Intelligence Council.