Nancy Killefer’s “Nanny Tax” Withdrawal: Double Standard or Just Bad Timing?
Nancy Killefer’s “nanny tax”-related withdrawal has brought to the surface some interesting and recurring questions about working women and domestic help. Emily Bazelon discusses the possibility of a tax screw-up double standard:
“When Nancy Killefer withdrew her nomination for chief White House performance officer this morning over unpaid nanny taxes, I got outraged e-mails screaming double-standard. Tim Geithner gets away with his tax mess-ups, which included a nanny-related screw-up, but Killefer doesn't? And what about Tom Daschle and his chauffered car?
But now Daschle's nomination is sunk, too. Is that evenhanded enough for us? Does it matter that Geithner's nanny tax troubles were of a pretty minor and technical variety (his kids' baby-sitter overstayed her visa for a short period)? And did Geithner just get lucky because his confirmation came first? Or is Kilefer's [sic] fate proof that unpaid nanny taxes trip up women seeking higher office more than men?”
Eve Fairbanks thinks it’s all “timing, timing, timing.”
What do you think – double standard or just bad timing? Should it matter that Killefer owed under $1000 ($298 in employment taxes and $600 in penalties) while Daschle owed $140,000 and Geithner $31,000? What does this say about the state of working women today that that this is the same debate we had in 1993 about Bill Clinton’s first attorney general nominee Zoe Baird, who withdrew her name because of “nanny tax” issues?
Jennifer Broxmeyer
Yale Law Women Conference Co-Chair
Yale Law School Class of 2009