NY Times calls for Daschle’s withdrawal

[cwo_ghwebb]

What happens when your own cheerleading team starts booing one of your players? Barack Obama just found out. The New York Times has called for Tom Daschle to withdraw, and for Obama to find another, “less-blemished” Secretary of HHS, and not just regarding taxes (via The Corner):

When President Obama nominated former Senator Tom Daschle to be his secretary of health and human services, it seemed to be a good choice. Mr. Daschle, as the co-author of a book on health care reform, knew a lot about one of the president’s signature issues. As a former Senate majority leader, he also knew a lot about guiding controversial bills through Congress, where he remains liked and respected by former colleagues.

Unfortunately, new facts have come to light — involving his failure to pay substantial taxes that were owed and his sizable income from health-related companies while he worked in the private sector — that call into question his suitability for the job. We believe that Mr. Daschle ought to step aside and let the president choose a less-blemished successor.

Mr. Daschle’s tax shortfall is particularly troubling because it comes on the heels of another nominee’s failure to pay taxes due. We were not pleased when the president’s Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, admitted that he had failed to pay tens of thousands of dollars in federal self-employment taxes while working for the International Monetary Fund despite having signed paperwork acknowledging the obligation.

Now we are confronted with an even larger lapse by Mr. Daschle, who failed to pay $128,000 in taxes, primarily for personal use of a car and driver provided to him by a private equity firm for which he consulted. Although the firm — headed by a major Democratic donor — had not issued a form 1099 for the value of the car service, Mr. Daschle said he became concerned last June that he might owe taxes on it and instructed his accountant to investigate. Neither was concerned enough to actually pay the taxes.

As the Times notes, the American tax system relies heavily, although not completely, on voluntary compliance. The IRS does not have the personnel to go door to door to demand financial records of every person living in America, nor should they. High-profile tax cheats undermine that system of voluntary compliance as an army of Hot Air commenters have noted. If Daschle and Geithner (and Al Franken and Charlie Rangel) can skip paying taxes with no penalties and still get high public office, why should any of us pay?

Hot Air » Blog Archive » NY Times calls for Daschle’s withdrawal


If the people of South Dakota didn't want him, why should we?

[Larry Gude (Premo)]

If Daschle has to leave, so does Mr. Wall Street Bonus Bailout and Super Bowl Party Geithner.

[cwo_ghwebb]

Originally Posted by Larry Gude

If Daschle has to leave, so does Mr. Wall Street Bonus Bailout and Super Bowl Party Geithner.

YEP!

[Beta84]

Originally Posted by cwo_ghwebb

Hot Air » Blog Archive » NY Times calls for Daschle’s withdrawal


If the people of South Dakota didn't want him, why should we?

the people of south dakota voted for a Republican instead of a Dem. Doesn't mean he wouldn't be a good Senator for another state (hell, he was Senate Majority leader...think about it!), or a good Cabinet member.

the NYT had some pretty good arguments though (and none of them had anything to do with him losing his Senate seat). I agree with their complaints of the blemishes. We don't need that stuff.

[chernmax (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Larry Gude

If Daschle has to leave, so does Mr. Wall Street Bonus Bailout and Super Bowl Party Geithner.

...................

[This_person]

Originally Posted by Beta84

the people of south dakota voted for a Republican instead of a Dem. Doesn't mean he wouldn't be a good Senator for another state (hell, he was Senate Majority leader...think about it!), or a good Cabinet member.

the NYT had some pretty good arguments though (and none of them had anything to do with him losing his Senate seat). I agree with their complaints of the blemishes. We don't need that stuff.

I was asked today (and it's a good question) - since Biden declared tax paying to be patriotic, and far too many of Obama's appointees evaded paying their taxes, can we deduce that Obama's administration is not very patriotic, by its own standards?

[chernmax (Premo)]

Originally Posted by This_person

I was asked today (and it's a good question) - since Biden declared tax paying to be patriotic, and far too many of Obama's appointees evaded paying their taxes, can we deduce that Obama's administration is not very patriotic, by its own standards?

....................

[cwo_ghwebb]

Originally Posted by Beta84

the people of south dakota voted for a Republican instead of a Dem. Doesn't mean he wouldn't be a good Senator for another state (hell, he was Senate Majority leader...think about it!), or a good Cabinet member.

the NYT had some pretty good arguments though (and none of them had anything to do with him losing his Senate seat). I agree with their complaints of the blemishes. We don't need that stuff.

The people of South Dakota voted to boot the Senate Majority Leader to the curb.

Maybe if Steny screwed up as badly, we'd get a decent Representative.

Maybe the folks in South Dakota are a bit more discriminating?

[Larry Gude (Premo)]

Originally Posted by This_person

I was asked today (and it's a good question) - since Biden declared tax paying to be patriotic, and far too many of Obama's appointees evaded paying their taxes, can we deduce that Obama's administration is not very patriotic, by its own standards?

That's pretty good!

[cwo_ghwebb]

Originally Posted by This_person

I was asked today (and it's a good question) - since Biden declared tax paying to be patriotic, and far too many of Obama's appointees evaded paying their taxes, can we deduce that Obama's administration is not very patriotic, by its own standards?

Sounds logical to me. But logic usually doesn't apply when one is talking about the government.