Call Your Senators: Jack Lew’s Confirmation Hearing Today

Treasury Secretary nominee Jack Lew had his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee today. As Obama’s Chief of Staff, Jack Lew did not say anything surprising—he confirmed that he is just another big government Washington insider.

Jack Lew was continuously asked about his involvement with Citigroup. He claimed that it would not present a conflict of interest. But as Senator Orrin Hatch said, “If you were to be confirmed, it could lead to an awkward situation in which … you would effectively be saying to financial firms: do as I say, not as I did.”

The Treasury Secretary nominee was also grilled on his $56,000 investment he once had in a Citigroup venture capital fund registered in the Cayman Islands. This is noteworthy because President Obama has previously criticized those who invest in “tax havens” like the Cayman Islands.

“President Obama has been almost obsessively critical of offshore investments,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley in an emailed statement. “He called Ugland House ‘either the biggest building or the biggest tax scam on record.’ That makes this Cayman Islands investment of his top official and now Treasury secretary nominee worthy of attention.”

As the architect of Obama’s past budgets, Jack Lew is not serious about tackling our massive national debt. During his confirmation hearing, he called the sequester cuts,”self-inflicted wounds to the recovery and put far too many jobs and businesses at risk.” The sequester is better than nothing—even though it would only reduce future spending increases as opposed to actually cutting real spending. Washington should keep its promise on the sequester savings.

Jack Lew is just as bad as former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner—the American people deserve better.The confirmation vote will likely not take place until late February. Call your senators and tell them to oppose the nomination of Jack Lew for Treasury Secretary.

Top 10 Reasons to Oppose Jack Lew for Treasury Secretary

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