Daschle is Most Recent Addition to Obama’s Ethics Problems
Tax evasion and lobbying interests aside Tom Daschle’s withdrawal is most likely a matter of Obama telling him to hit the road than any remorseful evaluation of proceeding through the nomination process. But let’s not forget that Tim Geithner was confirmed with similar tax evasion problem and is now in charge of the Treasury. The upside for Daschle is if the suggestion by some that health care reform in the Obama Administration will be delayed on his withdrawal more money will be available from his lobbying consulting business. This attests to the sad fact that if you are connected in Washington you stand to profit no matter which way the winds blow.
Tom Daschle is a lobbyist even though he calls it consulting. His current wife, Linda, is a lobbyist who left her lobbyist employer to start her own lobbying business. And the wife of Daschle’s son, Nathan, has a business known as JD Consulting which lobbies as well. Some information indicates she lobbied for Freddie Mac. Imagine that, another liberal connected to lobbying for Freddie Mac.
The problem is with the loyal opposition and how loyal are they? The GOP has displayed a mixed bag since the beginning of the 111th Congress. How would they have responded to the Daschle nomination had it gone to hearings? The same can be asked about the Richardson nomination since he also withdrew due to a grand jury investigation. But we know how they responded to Tim Geithner and that is not as expected. The same goes for Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. For all the bashing the GOP took for the Abramoff scandal and other falls from grace from members of their party it is clear the Democrats are not squeaky clean. GOP opposition to the House pork stimulus bill was noteworthy but not a defining moment in terms of proof of a return to conservative principles.
You could say that neither party will effectively police themselves. So one of the few benefits of the two party system we have is counting on the other party to do the policing. Fair or not it is about all we have. The Dems took plenty of pleasure from the troubles of the GOP from the likes of Mark Foley, Tom Delay, Duke Cunningham and the Abramoff scandal to name a few. It is time for the proverbial shoe to be placed on the other foot. On nominations the loyal opposition is not performing well. Richardson and Daschle’s departures cannot be credited to the GOP unless private discussions or backroom deals sealed the fate of these nominees. That would be hard to believe with the ease of nomination of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Tim Geithner and Eric Holder. Yet the fact remains that AG, State and Treasury trump Commerce and HHS so it is not inconceivable that Obama would concede to private objections from the GOP.
Separating fact from fiction or politics from principled governing is becoming more difficult. Simply reviewing voting records for instance does not provide a definitive answer on a politician’s performance. While voting for or against the bailouts are clear indicators of the position members of Congress take on spending and pork other voting is less enlightening. It may be an enormous task to be successful in the minority position the GOP finds themselves. But it is what they have after squandering the opportunity as the majority party. So get on with it already and start routinely proving you have what it takes and that principle is the guiding light.
Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com
| Daschle Withdraws as Obama Health Nominee | |
03 February 2009 |
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| Tom Daschle |
U.S. President Barack Obama’s nominee for health secretary has withdrawn his candidacy after being questioned about his late payment of more than $120,000 in taxes.
The White House says President Obama accepted the withdrawal of Tom Daschle “with sadness and regret.”
On Monday, Daschle sent a letter to the Senate Finance Committee apologizing for what he called “unintentional” mistakes on his taxes. The former Senate Democratic leader said he was “deeply embarrassed and disappointed” by the errors.
Daschle says he mistakenly failed to pay $120,000 in back taxes involving unreported income for consulting work, the use of a car service and charitable contributions.
Daschle since has filed amended tax returns to pay the back taxes and penalties.
He is not the first high-profile nominee for Obama’s cabinet to run into trouble with taxes. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s nomination also was criticized for his late payment of $34,000 in taxes.
February 3rd, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Tom Delay resigned — but has yet to be convicted of any wrongdoing whatsoever — and he was exhonerated by the ethics committee if I recall correctly.
Also, if I recall correctly, more Democrats than Republicans were connected to Abramoff.
As for Mr. Daschle — he’d better be just a consultant. It’s illegal for him to be a lobbyist, considering his previous occupation. But then, I think he’d look good in Orange.
February 3rd, 2009 at 11:16 pm
Those are reasons why the quote uses ‘troubles of the GOP’
Delay resigning seems to suggest ‘troubles’.
Although I have a similar recollection on damage to Dems and the GOP looking around today I was unable to locate a complete list of indictments.
As for Daschle or others lobbying it is my understanding current law only delays them by two years from leaving office. It is why I also refer to the terms consultant, policy adviser and lobbyist as being the same thing.
For example in the Senate Lobby Disclosure Database one doc from Jill Daschle, Tom Daschle’s daughter-in-law, has her indicating her client as a lobbying firm but herself as a ‘legislative advocate’ What’s in a name? Plenty
February 4th, 2009 at 3:41 am
Separating fact from fiction or politics from principled governing is becoming more difficult…as long as they spend millions on condoms! pffttt!
February 4th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
With the Dems trying to fund their entire agenda in one bill you need your own staff to sift through the mountain of paperwork to find all the pork.