Various news sources say Tom Daschle has withdrawn his nomination to be Secretary of Health and Human Services and director of the White House Office of Health Reform. His tax problems were wearing him down. Ezra Klein has a reaction — good for government ethics, bad for health care reform.
It doesn’t seem to be possible to be elected to or involved in government in Washington on any level without becoming compromised. Makes me want to smack heads sometimes.
If you’re interested, I have a post on the other blog that sorta kinda relates — Life in the God Realms.
He needs Senate confirmation for Secty, but not for the other position Obama appointed him to, if I remember right (the job title escapes me at the moment).
How about putting Howard Dean in the Secty position – he has the passion, and let Daschle help from his position with putting national health care through Congress?
Why does it always seem like every time we take a step forward towards health care, we get pushed back two? Oh yeah, not in big Pharma and for-profit health care’s interests.
Daschle’s tax returns were the most public of his transgressions, but as Greenwald writes, he really was a bad choice for healthcare reform. Quoting Matt Taibi:
“I know several reporters who are either officially or unofficially on “Whore Factor” duty, watching the rapidly kaleidoscoping transition picture and keeping track of the number of known whores and ghouls who for some reason have been invited to befoul the atmosphere of the next administration.
“Obviously there has been some dire news on that front already. When Obama picked Tom Daschle to be the HHS Secretary, I nearly shit my pants. In Washington there are whores and there are whores, and then there is Tom Daschle. Tom Daschle would suck off a corpse for a cheeseburger. True, he is probably only the second-biggest whore for the health care industry in American politics — the biggest being doctor/cat-torturer Bill Frist, whose visit to South Dakota on behalf of John Thune in 2004 was one of the factors in ending Daschle’s tenure in the Senate….”
My understanding– and it could be wrong– was that Daschle, unlike Geithner, wasn’t completely honest about his tax problems when dealing with the administration’s vetters. If that’s true, well then, imo hell yeah, he’s out.
By my count that’s now 3 Obama nominees who’ve failed to pay some taxes. This afternoon I wondered, briefly, “WTF? How come this didn’t happen with the Bush administration?” It took maybe another 5 seconds for me to visualize the Bushies’ most likely scenario for vetting nominees:
TURDBLOSSOM: You pay your taxes last year, son?
NOMINEE: Yessir, I have my last 5 years’ returns right h–
TURDBLOSSOM: Whoa, whoa, whoa, son! Stop right there! If you’re stupid enough to get caught payin’ taxes, well, t’hell witcha! You’re no kinda modern Republican! Next!
I’m glad Daschle withdrew, Geithner should of as well, having two sets of rules for people is what the neo-cons do. I’m sure Obama can find someone who will do a good job that has been honest in his or her personal and professional life. Obama needs to start telling the repugs to go fuck themselves when it comes to his stimulus bill. Every time he cuts something they don’t like they find something else. The wing-nuts have no intention working with Obama and the sooner he realizes that the better. He needs to tell them to fuck off and pass the bill, he does not need them nor should he continue to appease them, he needs to tell them to fuck off!
Glenn Greenwald was not crazy about Daschle. ‘Sleezy’ was the word Glenn used. Glen is a lawyer and he backs up his opinion with some factual history about Daschele & his wife. They are both beltway players who have stayed just this side of legal working the beltway system. I agree with Glen that we need a reformer who’s not been sleeping around (figuratively) with the same players he will have to negotiate with.
Here’s hoping Obama selects someone who’s going to put the patient first in curing the health care crisis
I’m glad Daschle withdrew, Geithner should’ve as well….
I agree!
The wing-nuts have no intention working with Obama and the sooner he realizes that the better. He needs to tell them to fuck off and pass the bill….
And on this, I agree to infinity (and beyond!). One of the items the GOP identified as “waste” in the stimulus bill was money to replace the “company cars” of federal employees with hybrids. An infusion of cash for the auto industry, plus a huge savings on fuel costs over time. The exact opposite of waste. What a bunch of maroons. Of course, when Big Oil owns yer ass….
I’d consider former Oregon guv
John_Kitzhaber for HHS.
Howard Dean would make a much better choice for HHS anyhow. I was never all that excited about Tom Daschle even before his tax problems arose.
In regards your post on the other site, I thought Asuras and Devas were more part of Hinduism than Buddhism? Not that they aren’t closely related traditions…
Not sorry to see Daschle go- just tired of hearing about it. Quit chewing the fat folks. Reminds me too much of 1993. Dem nominees never quite qualify. Though I have no use for millionaires who can’t seem to pay their taxes. Time to get out of the mire and move on with the agenda of real change- that’s not just a slogan.
The tax thing might have been a mess up with the people who do his taxes. The being a lobbyist FOR the health industry and then planning to work for the American public might have been a problem. I am also still wondering about someone who gets a car AND driver no charge from someone. To me it smacks of being bought for something. Just the average person like me is not likely to have someone just offer a car and driver. Though.. when you talk to insiders.. most are disappointed that he is out.. they thought he would be great.
btw.. listening to the radio yesterday.. one of those repugs flat out said the policies of the last 8 years have been a failure.
Daschle probably helped write the very tax law he now claims ignorance of.
I hope I’m wrong, but I’m beginning to think that Obama is too nice, perhaps too trusting, to be able to function effectively in the snake pit that’s DC.
Forgive me if I’m wrong, but don’t these rich people have accountants and tax analysts to do their taxes? Or do they sit around the formica table in the singlewide with the 1040EZ, a cup of Folgers and some condensed milk and do it themselves?
So why would they “make a mistake”? I agree that the tax code is open to interpretation, we can discuss forever if an expense is deductible or not, but at the end of the day, you owe SE taxes (Geithner) on your profit and if you make $5 million in 2 years, surely you won’t miss a lousy 140,000 (Duhschel). Suck it up and pay for the bailout yourselves!
Every cabinet member should have an IRS audit every year, as should every elected official in the country. That’s my suggestion for new legislation.