Two top level nominees take a powder on the same day
First it was announced today that Annette Nazareth, a lawyer and former senior staffer and commissioner with the Securities and Exchange Commission, has withdrawn her name from nomination as deputy Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s top pick to be his deputy.
This amounts to another stunning setback for the agency as it confronts the worst financial crisis in decades.
Breitbart News reports that Nazareth’s withdrawal from consideration comes as critics say Geithner lacks the senior staff he needs to make critical decisions about the financial crisis. Not one of his top 17 deputies has been named, let alone confirmed. Without senior leadership, lower-level Treasury employees can’t make decisions or represent the government in crucial conversations with banks and others.
On the heels of Nazareth’s departure, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, has withdrawn his name from consideration as surgeon general of the United States, according to an administration official, reports CNN.
The Obama team was impressed with the combination of Gupta’s past government experience, as a White House fellow in 1997 and a special adviser to then-first lady Hillary Clinton, along with his medical career as a neurosurgeon and his communication skills.
Dr. Gupta used that famous back-out line as he took his leave. He has removed himself from consideration “to focus more on his medical career and his family.”
It wasn’t long ago such an appointment was considered a high honor.
In a few short weeks this man has become a pariah. How many people of integrity want to be associated with him, his socialist programs to restructure America, his budget busting schemes and his duplicity? Obviously not many. They’re runing like they’re in a marathon.
Joining up with this team would be like volunteering to be shot from a cannon. It sounds exciting until you feel your butt burning as you are ejected. From there, you are catapulted into a headlong tailspin, then fall into an abyss in a ball of flames.
Who wouldn’t pass? That’s more excitement than most of us want.
I read this morning that Geithner has 17 top positions in the Treasury Department that all remain unfilled. He can’t get a single aide to hop aboard the crashing treasury train. A job there under the Obama adminstration would be a sure negative on anyone’s resume.