Obama nominee Daschle has tax problems

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Obama Nominee Tom Daschle Hid Tax Liabilities from Transition Team
By Mark Impomeni
Feb 2nd 2009 8:18AM

President Barack Obama's nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, did not reveal the extent of his delinquency in paying federal income taxes to the Obama transition team for nearly a month after he was selected. Daschle knew he owed back taxes on income he received as a high-priced consultant since at least June 2008, but did not tell Obama about the tax bill until after he paid $146,000 in a January 2 amended filing. In his defense, Daschle said through a spokesman that he did not realize that the bill would be such a "jaw-dropping" amount and that he assumed his accountant was taking care of it.

Daschle is the second high-profile Obama nominee to have significant tax problems. Newly confirmed Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, now the man in charge of the Internal Recenue Service, had to pay $42,000 in back taxes to the IRS after it became known that he had failed to pay self-employment taxes during the time he worked for the International Monetary Fund. Like Daschle, Geithner only paid the full amount he owed after he was nominated by Obama for a Cabinet post. Obama called Geithner's errors "honest mistakes," even though it was revealed that Geithner signed for and received reimbursements from the IMF for taxes he never paid. Obama is similarly standing behind Daschle with his tax problems. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that the president believes "nobody's perfect but nobody's hiding anything."

But Daschle did hide his tax problems from Obama until after the new year, and Geithner did not pay all of his back taxes until after his selection as Obama's Treasury Secretary nominee. While the White House is attempting to spin the situation as a series of minor missteps, the transition team, and President Obama, cannot escape criticism for their role in Daschle's and Geithner's selection. The fact that two high level nominees in the Obama Administration were able to make it to a nomination announcement despite having serious tax delinquencies suggests that the transition team did not do a very thorough job vetting potential nominees for positions of power in government. Alternatively, it suggests that proper payment of taxes is not a high priority on President Obama's list of qualifications for his Cabinet officials.
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Obama Nominee Tom Daschle Hid Tax Liabilities from Transition Team - Political Machine - Politics Blog, Opinion and Analysis - AOL News
 
Another one bites the dust:

Killefer cites distraction of tax issue

Published - Feb 03 2009 11:18AM EST

Nancy Killefer says she is withdrawing her candidacy for chief performance officer because she doesn't want her tax issue to become a "distraction."

In a letter to President Barack Obama, Killefer said she understands that the duties of chief performance officer are urgent and any delays must be avoided.

She said she was reluctantly withdrawing her name from consideration.

Killefer failed for a year and a half to pay employment taxes on household help. She was the second major Obama administration nominee to withdraw and the third to have tax problems complicate their nomination after Obama announced their selection.
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Official Performance czar withdraws candidacy - Road Runner
 
I think the reason this thread is getting a mere yawn and cricket chirps is because people are already used to this by now. Wow, and it's only been two weeks. That was quick.
 
Breaking:

Tom Daschle Withdraws as Obama's Health Secretary Nominee
Obama Accepts Daschle's Withdrawal After Daschle Admitted He Failed to Pay Taxes.
By RUSSELL GOLDMAN

Feb. 3, 2009—

In a stunning setback for President Obama, Tom Daschle abruptly withdrew his nomination to become secretary of Health and Human Services today, following an admission that he failed to pay about $140,000 in back taxes.

In a joint Obama-Daschle press release, Obama accepted Daschle's withdrawal "with sadness and regret."

"Tom made a mistake, which he has openly acknowledged. He has not excused it, nor do I," Obama said.

Daschle, a former Senate majority leader from North Dakota, who had been one of Obama's closest advisers throughout his presidential campaign, said his tax problems meant he had lost the faith of the American people and was therefore unable to serve.

"This work will require a leader who can operate with the full faith of Congress and the American people, and without distraction," Daschle said in a statement released by the White House.

"Right now, I am not that leader, and will not be a distraction," he said.

In addition to being nominated to be HHS secretary, Daschle was also slated to lead Obama's healthcare initative as health czar, a post from which he also withdrew.

Daschle's retreat raises questions about whether Obama can keep his promise to make more affordable healthcare one of the cornerstone of his agenda in his first 100 days in office.

Daschle's decision to quit the nominating process was surprising because Democratic senators had rallied around him Monday and Obama said he "absolutely" stood by Daschle.

Obama's backing didn't stop criticism of Daschle's fitness to join the White House cabinet. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said Obama was "losing credibility" by continuing to support Daschle. "Part of leadership is recognizing when there has been a mistake made and responding quickly," DeMint said.

Daschle's withdrawal came just hours after Nancy Killefer, Obama's nominee to be chief performance officer, withdrew her nomination following the revelation that she had a $946.69 lien on her property in 2005 for failure to pay taxes.

A third Obama Cabinet pick, Tim Geithner, admitted to Congress that he had owed and paid back more than $40,000 before he was confirmed as Treasury secretary last week, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson withdrew his nomination as Commerce secretary over questions about state contracts.

The setbacks are likely to embarrass Obama, who announced a "new era of responsibility" at his inauguration and are likely to embolden Republican opposition to the president and his agenda at a time when Obama struggles to get his economic stimulus plan through Congress.

After a closed-door session before the Senate Finance Committee Monday, Daschle apologized and said his failure to pay taxes was unintentional.

"I deeply apologize to President Obama, to my colleagues and the American people," Daschle said. "I would hope that my mistake could be viewed in the context of 30 years of public service."

The failure by the former Senate majority leader to pay taxes on the free use of a car and driver for several years was first reported by ABC News.
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ABC News: Tom Daschle Withdraws as Obama's Health Secretary Nominee
 
good. glad to hear it. i never liked daschle as obama's pick in the first place.
 
typical democrat that favors high taxes but dont want to pay it themselves
 
Doug5 said:
typical democrat that favors high taxes but dont want to pay it themselves
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...just like our former president who chose to spend $12 billion/month on the war in iraq without considering the consequences of a significantly high national debt?
 
Hear Again said:
...just like our former president who chose to spend $12 billion/month on the war in iraq without considering the consequences of a significantly high national debt?
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I don't see how that relates to the hypocrisy of a politician favoring higher taxes for everyone else but cheating on their own taxes.

At worst, this as criminal. At best, it demonstrates the need to simplify the tax system if the people in charge of writing it can't understand it themselves.

I agree about Tom Daschle. This doesn't surprise me about him. I have always seen him as kind of pathetic. I enjoyed seeing him get booted out in 2004.
 
darkdog said:
I don't see how that relates to the hypocrisy of a politician favoring higher taxes for everyone else but cheating on their own taxes.

At worst, this as criminal. At best, it demonstrates the need to simplify the tax system if the people in charge of writing it can't understand it themselves.

I agree about Tom Daschle. This doesn't surprise me about him. I have always seen him as kind of pathetic. I enjoyed seeing him get booted out in 2004.
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it relates because of the fact that george w. bush never cared about all of the money he spent regardless of how americans felt. spending $12 billion/month is simply ridiculous and is a total waste of good money that could have been used elsewhere. if people are going to blame daschle for his actions, they should blame former president bush as well.
 
darkdog said:
I don't see how that relates to the hypocrisy of a politician favoring higher taxes for everyone else but cheating on their own taxes.

At worst, this as criminal. At best, it demonstrates the need to simplify the tax system if the people in charge of writing it can't understand it themselves.

I agree about Tom Daschle. This doesn't surprise me about him. I have always seen him as kind of pathetic. I enjoyed seeing him get booted out in 2004.
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It doesn't.
 
bush/cheney getting gas prices skyhigh is what put the u.s. automakers out of business
 
Whatever happened to the extensive back ground check? That he had?
 
Hear Again said:
...just like our former president who chose to spend $12 billion/month on the war in iraq without considering the consequences of a significantly high national debt?
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:topic:

This is about individual nominees not paying their taxes. It's not about the national debt.
 
Doug5 said:
bush/cheney getting gas prices skyhigh is what put the u.s. automakers out of business
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:topic:
This is about the nominees not paying their taxes. It's not about gas prices or US automakers.
 
:laugh2: I guess nobody REALLY read the article. PEOPLE - THIS IS ABOUT TAX EVASION!!! Now that's the Domestic Dissent! :mad2:
 
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