From: WSWS
By
Zac Corrigan
27 May 2013
On the eve of her confirmation hearing, President Obama’s nominee
for commerce secretary, Penny Pritzker, admitted that she had
underreported her 2012 income to the tune of $80 million, blaming a
clerical error. Pritzker is worth an estimated $1.85 billion and would
become the wealthiest US cabinet member in history. Her nomination
underscores the increasingly plutocratic character of the Obama
administration and the US government at large.
The
$80 million in earnings that had been omitted were related to
Pritzker’s role managing trust funds—financial instruments used by
wealthy families to control vast sums of money across generations—and
$54 million of it was related to an offshore fund based in the Bahamas.
This admission comes in the wake of a recent study showing that as of
2012, wealthy Americans are hoarding up to $32 trillion in offshore accounts to avoid paying taxes.
Pritzker
has played an important role in the Democratic Party’s own finances for
years. She was the chair of Obama’s 2008 campaign finance team, which
raised over $778 million, a record at the time. She went on to
co-chair—along with Chicago Mayor and former Obama chief of staff Rahm
Emanuel—the president’s 2012 re-election campaign, which raised over $1
billion. She contributed $250,000 to Obama’s 2013 inauguration
festivities. She is also a member of Obama’s Jobs Council, which advises
the president on economic matters. MORE
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