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Will Tom Daschle Make It Through His HHS Secretary Hearings? And One Question He Should Be Asked...
Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) is trying to keep his hopes alive to be named secretary of Health and Human Services after it's come to light that he failed to pay almost $130,000 in taxes.
The short version: Of course, he'll make it. The Senate is an undistinguished gentleman's league and all the chattering classes are saying the same thing: This is no big deal. Nobody's perfect. Who hasn't skipped out on that much in taxes? Obama owes him big time and will defend him to the mat. Etc.
Here's a question for Daschle (and for that matter, Timothy Geithner, who had tax and nanny problems of his own that didn't stop him from being named Treasury secretary): When you amended your taxes and coughed up about $140,000 in back taxes plus interest, did you feel like you were stimulating the economy as much as you would have if you had spent that money yourself?
Update: Daschle is out. One small step for Obama, one giant step for taxpayers.
|2.3.09 @ 7:51AM|#
Wow, the senate republicans don't have a hair on their collective asses, if they don't ask exactly that.
|2.3.09 @ 7:54AM|#
HrBunny and I botched the returns and owed $600 more plus
interest last year, and we started getting bills within
months.
Is this someone digging deep and finding inappropriate deductions,
or is this Daschle just ignoring the letters from the IRS until he
needs to get a new job?
|2.3.09 @ 8:15AM|#
At least he's not being nominated to a cabinet position that the IRS falls under - cuz that would a lot worse...
|2.3.09 @ 8:17AM|#
Personally, I think that dude is about as corrupt as the day is
long!
RT
www.real-privacy.us.tc
|2.3.09 @ 8:28AM|#
Legislators cheating on taxes would be one of the few capital
offenses in SugarFree-topia.
They would be boiled in high fructose corn syrup.
Abdul|2.3.09 @ 8:44AM|#
Why isn't the IRS doing a complete audit on Daschle right
now?
Because the guy in charge is Timothy Geithner.
Tom Daschle|2.3.09 @ 8:54AM|#
Make no mistake, tax cheaters cheat us all, and the IRS should enforce our laws to the letter.
Wall Street Journal|2.3.09 @ 8:55AM|#
The Senate Finance Committee is also reviewing whether certain
"travel and entertainment services" provided to Mr. Daschle and his
wife Linda, an aviation lobbyist, should also be reported as
income. The Washington Post reports that Mr. Daschle has earned
more than $5 million over the past two years, including $220,000
from the health-care industry he's been nominated to
regulate.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123353200827537439.html
DearlyBelovedLeader|2.3.09 @ 8:56AM|#
I am running to tell the lobbyists in Washington that their days
of setting the agenda are over. They have not funded my campaign.
They won't work in my White House.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/17/campbell.brown.lobbyists/index.html
|2.3.09 @ 9:11AM|#
This really chaffes my skivvies - why the hell should I ever pay a nickle of taxes ever again? The Dem leadership love to spend tax money, but they won't pay it themselves! They are as hypocritical as the Republicans, and far more blatant about it. Fuck those dudes!
|2.3.09 @ 9:14AM|#
They won't work in the White House, but they will work in the Hubert H. Humphrey Building and other buildings not called the White House.
|2.3.09 @ 9:16AM|#
Apparently, Senator Baucus, who has been beating the drum for
tougher enforcement by the IRS for quite some time, had a nice chat
with Daschle, and decided it was no big deal.
I'm expecting an announcement of a national blanket tax amnesty
momentarily.
creech|2.3.09 @ 9:17AM|#
Dearly Beloved Leader: we know those were just words you used to get elected. Not one of your supporters will be writing letters to the editor expressing their disappointment at your failure to live up to them. In fact, there will be all sorts of rationalizations made, beginning with "yeah, well what about Bush's administration?"
The Angry Optimist|2.3.09 @ 9:21AM|#
I appeal to Lord SugarFree that, in his utopia, Enterprise be declared as non-canon.
Reinmoose|2.3.09 @ 9:21AM|#
Why can't they just come out and say "Ok, nobody really believes
that the world will be a better place once I pay this $120,000 to
the government, so let's all stop pretending that it will and we'll
cut some things that obviously don't work"
Would NEVER happen
dhex|2.3.09 @ 9:23AM|#
"Why isn't the IRS doing a complete audit on Daschle right
now?"
haven't you read your marx? the ruling class lives by a different
set of rules than the rest of us.
Billy!|2.3.09 @ 9:24AM|#
Massive back taxes are the new "I smoked marijuana when I was
younger"! Of course everybody does it, so I shouldn't be
punished... it was so long ago!
But God help the average citizen caught in the act.
Free thinking Democrat|2.3.09 @ 9:26AM|#
Cheney took million of dollars from Halibruton before it got a no bid contract. Linda Chavez hired an illegal foreign slave to keep her children. Bush got us into an illegal war that killed millions. Now the wingnuts want to keep a good man from taking a job he deserves and job that will allow him to give decent healthcare to Americans because he got a free car and driver. Yeah that is serious government.
The Angry Optimist|2.3.09 @ 9:28AM|#
I am sure we're going to see our resident
members of the reality-based community to howl in protest that two
tax-cheaters have come onboard "the most transparent administration
EVAR!!"...
Any minute now...
|2.3.09 @ 9:28AM|#
Free thinking Democrat,
If it were up to me, they'd all burn. Or, at least, be removed from
office.
The Censor would never allow this, that's for sure.
PC|2.3.09 @ 9:29AM|#
"Why isn't the IRS doing a complete audit on Daschle right
now?"
Because Clinton didn't win the nomination.
VM|2.3.09 @ 9:30AM|#
Nick | February 3, 2009, 9:26am | #
"Lawns don't mow themselves."
Hire a cow.
yeah yeah. you're just a shill for big udder.
Gilbert Martin|2.3.09 @ 9:32AM|#
"Legislators cheating on taxes would be one of the few capital
offenses in SugarFree-topia.
They would be boiled in high fructose corn syrup."
Now why do you want to go wasting perfectly good corn syrup like
that?
Boil them in used automatic transmission fluid instead.
|2.3.09 @ 9:33AM|#
I appeal to Lord SugarFree that, in his utopia, Enterprise
be declared as non-canon.
Granted. And I'm shaky on the new Star Trek as well. If no
one knew what the Romulans looked like before TOS, why is NewSulu
in a swordfight with one? (Oh, I answered my own question, didn't
I?)
SugarFree-topia has legislators and taxes? WTF?
Yes, but only insofar as to create the opportunity to boil people
in HFCS, known throughout history as the most dishonorable way to
be put to death.
I fully believe every man's Utopia is every other man's Dystopia.
If you are going to live in the broken dream of a megalomaniac, I
ask you: why not mine?
Gilbert Martin|2.3.09 @ 9:37AM|#
"job that will allow him to give decent healthcare to
Americans"
You mean he's going to pay for it all out of his own pocket?
Because that is the ONLY thing that would count as him giving
anything to anybody.
VM|2.3.09 @ 9:41AM|#
now, now, ProGlib - I refuse to cow-tow to Big Korn Syrup, Big
Meletory Loier, or Mr. Steven Crane.
With luck, Dashle won't be confirmed, sending him back to the boil
on the tookas of Minnesota.
(remember the last administration's "fail up" appointee?)
Gilbert - hear hear! down with the automatic trannies!
|2.3.09 @ 9:42AM|#
I for one admire Tom Daschle, and intend to show my support by following his example and not paying income tax until I'm nominated to a cabinet position.
The Angry Optimist|2.3.09 @ 9:47AM|#
Granted.
Woo-hoo! Let it be trumpeted across the land: No. More.
Retconning!
If no one knew what the Romulans looked like before TOS, why is
NewSulu in a swordfight with one?
That's a good question.
Can we get a movie based on the Terran Empire?
DearlyBelovedLeader|2.3.09 @ 9:48AM|#
Yes we can end tax cheating in America. Under my plan, I will target the country's most dishonest and notorious tax cheats and nominate them to serve in my cabinet. Once nominated, they will be forced to pay their taxes and work off their sins through good work in my administration.
|2.3.09 @ 9:48AM|#
Disclaimer: I thoroughly agree with Nick's implied thesis. But if the American people aren't spending when they should and are saving when they shoulldnt... Isn't frivolous government spending an option? Americans aren't buying their own cars or contraceptive education... Shame we start spending that stuff after this recession's over.
|2.3.09 @ 9:51AM|#
Now the wingnuts want to keep a good man from taking a job
he deserves and job that will allow him to give decent healthcare
to Americans because he got a free car and driver.
Reinmoose- is that you?
DearlyBelovedLeader|2.3.09 @ 9:52AM|#
One other thing. It takes a crook to catch a crook. How is the IRS supposed to catch tax cheats or HHS catch medicare crooks with honest people running them? They won't. That is the answer. They won't do any better of a job than the DEA did before I appoint Marion Barry to run it or the public indecency division at the Justice department did before I appoint Bob Gucione to run it.
|2.3.09 @ 9:55AM|#
Let it be trumpeted across the land: No. More.
Retconning!
Agreed. Retconning is an offense on par with incestuous necrophilia
and local weathermen in my lands, which stretch from that corner of
my yard to that far one. No. That one, over by the wisteria.
DearlyBelovedLeader|2.3.09 @ 9:57AM|#
Hell, everybody knows rich white men don't pay taxes. If I had to nominate honest people there wouldn't be a rich white man on my cabinet. I would just have a bunch of dumb crackers and church ladies.
|2.3.09 @ 9:59AM|#
TAO,
I wouldn't mind: Star Trek: The Rise of Khan as long as
they could resist winks, in-jokes, stunt casting, and, of course,
retconning. James Caviezel would be perfect.
DearlyBelovedLeader|2.3.09 @ 10:01AM|#
Now if you will excuse me, the dumb ass Secret Service turned down the thermostat to 70 again. God damn it is cold in here. Didn't they hear a Hawaiian won the election and not that hilbilly from Alaska?
Reinmoose|2.3.09 @ 10:05AM|#
Keep guessing P Brooks.
It's not quite (quite) ridiculous enough to be my
handiwork.
DearlyBelovedLeader|2.3.09 @ 10:23AM|#
You get drunk with a artist friend one night and do a little exploring and it ends up on ebay. GOD DAMN AMERICA sometimes.
Elemenope|2.3.09 @ 10:23AM|#
I am sure we're going to see our resident members of the
reality-based community to howl in protest that two tax-cheaters
have come onboard "the most transparent administration
EVAR!!"...
Any minute now...
I'm not sure *exactly* who you're talking about, but if it makes
you feel any better:
Geithner should not have been confirmed.
Daschle should not be confirmed.
I've posted on this on other sites for a while now (like,
ObsidianWings) but refrained here because:
1. It was already covered
2. When it comes to Obama most posters around here are infected
with "teh stoopid"
And FWIW, under Bush the Lesser this sort of thing wouldn't have
even been a thing. Business as usual, as they say. And we knew
about both scofflaws before they were confirmed, so...what's this
problem about TRANSPARENCY you're whining about?
Just asking|2.3.09 @ 10:27AM|#
"And FWIW, under Bush the Lesser this sort of thing wouldn't
have even been a thing. Business as usual, as they say."
I guess that is why Linda Chavez was confirmed. And Zoe Baird under
Clinton sailed through confirmation. Being a tax cheat has never
been a problem for appointees. Is it a woman thing with you? Should
only women be required to pay their taxes?
The Angry Optimist|2.3.09 @ 10:29AM|#
The "whining" would be that we have a mess of folks claiming
that Geitner's tax evasion was a "careless error". Dude, even I
know that you are supposed to pay the 15.whatever% FICA taxes when
you're self-employed, and the IMF gave him the money to do it. It
does not past a smell test that a man who explicitly acknowledged
on his IMF forms that he would pay the tax did not know he had to
pay the tax.
And pimping "transparency", El, is also code for promoting
honesty and straightforwardness in government dealings,
and these past two yokels are anything but, with the implicit and
explicit support of the White House.
And FWIW, under Bush the Lesser this sort of thing wouldn't
have even been a thing
Oh, well, then...that settles THAT.
Just asking|2.3.09 @ 10:31AM|#
If Bush did it, it must be okay then right? It is not like Obama campaigned on cleaning up Washington or on the "failure of the last eight years". Anything Obama does is to be judged only in relation to Bush, not in relation to objective ethical standards or campaign promises. Right?
Gilbert Martin|2.3.09 @ 10:38AM|#
"One other thing. It takes a crook to catch a crook. How is the
IRS supposed to catch tax cheats or HHS catch medicare crooks with
honest people running them? They won't. That is the answer. They
won't do any better of a job than the DEA did before I appoint
Marion Barry to run it or the public indecency division at the
Justice department did before I appoint Bob Gucione to run
it."
Wonderful concept.
I suggest Charles Manson be appointed head of the Federal Prison
system.
DearlyBelovedLeader|2.3.09 @ 10:45AM|#
"I suggest Charles Manson be appointed head of the Federal
Prison system."
Not a bad idea. But I already have one dumb cracker as Vice
President. I really don't need another one in my government. I like
your thinking though. Bureau of Prisons probably needs a brother
running it. Maybe Suge Knight. I hear he is out of jail.
|2.3.09 @ 10:52AM|#
Mayor Kilpatrick knows a little more about the "corrections" system than he used to. And I think he's looking for a job.
DearlyBelovedLeader|2.3.09 @ 10:54AM|#
Kwami is a good man and a rigtous brother. But I put him in my government and the next thing I know Michelle will have 25 text messages from him.
Barack Obama|2.3.09 @ 11:04AM|#
"You go to Cabinet meetings with the tax cheats you have -- not the tax cheats you might want or wish to have at a later time."
Bill|2.3.09 @ 11:12AM|#
...provided to Mr. Daschle and his wife Linda, an
aviation lobbyist...
What used to kill me about Daschle's apologists was over how good
he was about bringing in the pork to SD. Example: If he and his
wife were such a good team, then how the heck did
UND get the aerospace program?
ed|2.3.09 @ 11:17AM|#
Another nominee (Nancy Killefer) has withdrawn due to tax problems. This is getting pesky, no?
|2.3.09 @ 11:20AM|#
Why isn't the IRS doing a complete audit on Daschle right
now?
Because they don't want to piss off the majority party in the
Congress. IRS wants their budget increased like any other agency,
and they know that voting pro-IRS is a dicey thing for any
legislator.
-jcr
|2.3.09 @ 11:23AM|#
I for one admire Tom Daschle, and intend to show my support
by following his example
If more Americans followed his example, we'd have a much healthier
economy.
-jcr
|2.3.09 @ 11:25AM|#
As far as I'm concerned, Geitner's tax evasion is one of his
extremely few redeeming qualities. What bugs the shit out of me is
that the head of the New York Fed gets the job of Treasury
Secretary, where he will certainly work to increase the looting for
the benefit of the Federal Reserve's owners.
This is a business-as-usual administration.
-jcr
|2.3.09 @ 11:35AM|#
Hussein has called for a new America and with his nominees
setting the example their fearless leader has set I intend to
follow their call this April and will urge all my friends to do so
as well.
If its good enough for president 666 and his senate of lemmings its
good enough for me.
Ska|2.3.09 @ 12:17PM|#
I posted this in another thread, but it actually makes sense
here.
OT: Obama's Performance Czar Withdraws
Nancy Killefer, nominated by President Obama to be the federal
government's first chief performance officer, is withdrawing from
the post, the White House said. An administration official
confirmed that she is withdrawing over a tax
problem. "On the heels of Geithner and Daschle, she just
didn't want to go through with it," the official said.
At least she has the guts to step down, unlike the bigger
hypocrites who act like they had no idea that they had income they
weren't paying taxes on.
|2.3.09 @ 12:21PM|#
They won't work in the White House, but they will work in
the Hubert H. Humphrey Building and other buildings not called the
White House.
That's why I call him the Parsin' President.
Just Asking|2.3.09 @ 12:30PM|#
Ska,
Killefer is a woman. Women are not allowed to dodge taxes (see e.g.
Chavez and Beard). Just good old boys are allowed to do that.
Stretch|2.3.09 @ 12:41PM|#
Actually, a better question would be, "if you and other high ranking government and finance officials can't figure out your taxes, what makes you think ordinary folks can figure out your byzantine system?"
|2.3.09 @ 1:16PM|#
I just read on Fox news that Dashle just removed himself from consideration for the cabinet post. The question remains, if there's anybody in the world who could be WORSE, will Obama be able to find him?
Mike Laursen|2.3.09 @ 3:10PM|#
Hell, we should just say that the Federal government gets to print X dollars a year and get rid of the income tax.
Syd|2.3.09 @ 8:16PM|#
Killefer's problem was trivial (unless there is something else going on) and she settled with the IRS in 2005. The whole amount she was behind was $298 and she paid twice that in fines. It sounds to me like she must have been having a dispute with the IRS and they slapped her.
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