On Treasury Secretary nominee Tim Geither:
From McClatchy:
"He's got a real problem with me and my constituents," said Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio. "He may be a smart guy, but the average person on the street sees that he hasn't paid his taxes. It's a very bad thing for a guy who's running the Treasury to be in that position."
From the Associated Press:
“It's a very bad thing for the guy that's running Treasury to be out there saying, 'I made a mistake. I forgot about it,'" said Sen. George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio. "The American public thinks that there's some people ... especially a lot of these guys on Wall Street, that have had it made in the shade."
From Congressional Quarterly:
Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said Wednesday, “People who work here — who are big shots —should pay their taxes. I think he’s got a real problem with me and my constituents.”
On Peter Orszag and Rob Nabors to be director and deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB):
“I spend much of my time thinking about the economic health of our country. In my lifetime of public service, I have never seen the country in such perilous circumstances. Not since the Great Depression and the Second World War have we been confronted with such challenges as a nation and as a world. The offices for which Peter Orszag and Rob Nabors are nominated will be pivotal to seeing America through these harrowing economic times and making it strong and viable in the 21st century. The people who fill these positions must be willing to be honest with Congress and the American people and make the tough decisions necessary to right our nation’s fiscal course. They must be willing to ensure we are working harder and smarter and doing more with less. I am particularly interested in their thoughts on issues such as federal financial management, tax and entitlement reform and the vital importance of streamlined management including the GAO High-Risk List. I am hopeful to find that they have the character, intellectual honesty and concern about our nation's competitiveness in the global marketplace now and in the future to serve our nation in the offices to which they have been nominated.”
On Lisa P. Jackson to be administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Nancy H. Sutley to be chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality:
“I understand that maintaining the fragile balance of our ecosystems requires that each one of us to be responsible stewards of our land, water and air. And, for the past 10 years, I have fought to ensure that environmental protections are harmonized with our environmental, economic, energy and national security needs. The offices for which Lisa Jackson and Nancy Sutley are nominated will be pivotal to seeing America through these harrowing economic times and making it strong and viable in the 21st century. Now more than ever, it is vital that proper environmental safeguards and clean-ups are achieved without spending large sums of money or wasting years hashing out remediation methods.
“I am particularly interested in hearing their thoughts on vital issues such as increased funding and assistance to local communities to deal with water infrastructure needs, restoration of the Great Lakes and balancing applications of the Clean Air Act and any future policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I hope to find that Ms. Jackson and Ms. Sutley are committed to science-based approaches that protect the environment while creating new jobs. We must ensure that our nation is getting the biggest bang for its buck, guaranteeing that costs bear a reasonable relationship with benefits, and resources are spent on the greatest environmental risks first.”
