Is Kyl “punishing” the US Treasury Department?

Incredible as it may seem in these challenging financial times, the United States Treasury still lacks an Under Secretary of the Treasury…and critics are blaming it on Internet gambling’s arch-foe, Arizona Senator Jon Kyl.

While the accusation remains unconfirmed, the publication National Journal claims that Kyl is holding up appointments for officials in key international finance and tax offices….and incredible as it may seem, this may be due to his disappointment that the ban on  Internet financial transactions with online gambling companies has not been implemented.

Kyl was a major driver of the UIGEA legislation rammed through Congress in 2006 on the coat tails of an unrelated security law, and he has since fiercely opposed successful attempts to delay the regulations supporting the controversial law until mid-2010.

The political manouevreing of the Senator from Arizona around the confirmation of nominees to work at the Treasury Department has drawn major criticism from both liberals and conservatives, the National Journal reports.

Confirmation of the disquiet the appointment delays are causing comes in the comments of ex-head of the Federal Reserve, Paul Volcker, who is quoted as saying on a talk-show: “Here we are on December 29, almost a year after the [Obama presidential] Inauguration, and there is no Under Secretary of the Treasury.

“How can we run a government in the middle of a financial crisis without doing the ordinary, garden-variety administrative work of filling the relevant agencies?”

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