I'm sorry, but the dude didn't pay taxes on over $100,000 in income. If I did that I'd either be in jail or begging some IRS functionary not to bankrupt me. Daschle being allowed to run HHS after something like this is just a slap in the face to everyday Americans who have to actually accept the consequences of their actions. I like Daschle and think he might make a good HHS head, but this just stinks of "only the little people have to follow rules".

Tough. He can be sorry at home.

I think it would be a good example to rescind this nomination. Sure they might have been honest mistakes, but lots of up people right now would kill to be making so much that they owe six digits in taxes.

The fact is, it makes Obama look bad, it undercuts Daschle's job, and it makes irresponsibility look too easy to gloss over, as long as you pay up and say you're really, really sorry.

Daschle's in with no problem. The Senate's a clubby club and Obama owes Daschle, so his back's covered. He'll be around to make sure that his buddies in the Insurance Industry get theirs in whatever bogus Health Care Reform package gets greenlighted. Fuckers.

In short, Daschle is a member of the old boys Senate club, and can be trusted to pass "reform" that maintains the status of certain Washington insiders, special interests, and lobbyists (or "consultants").

"DASCHLE APOLOGIZES OVER TAX ERRORS"

A traitor to my cause, no one should apologize for tax cheating it is as American as apple pie.

He's a LOBBYIST. His wife is a LOBBYIST. Why are distracting tax issues being discussed here? His firm lobbied for AT&T against FISA. He then praised it's passage as a pragmatic solution after the unfortunate congressional vote last year. Where's the outrage against lobbyists in the administration?

Obama is taking a lot more fire from his friends than his enemies.

Remember, folks, it's Obama's judgment you're impugning here.

This is a real turn towards the sleeze that Obama said he would get away from.

Thats two times they apologized for Tax Evasion...Like I said the 1st time,"Al Capone got 11 years for tax evasion"Now don't say "He was a Murderer,The Govt. just Starts Wars....If thats not murder,what is?

Wow, it may not a full court press in the Senate, but it sure is in Troll Country. There's no evidence that the guy underpaid on purpose, and yet words like "cheat" and "evasion" and "sleaze" keep popping up.

daschle is untrustworthy.

and to entrust him with this last opportunity for a progressive healthcare policy for the people of this country is too important to have his already compromised self involved in.

Remember, folks, it's Obama's judgment you're impugning here.

And unlike Commander Bunnypants' jackass followers, we'll call out (legitimate) President Obama when he's wrong. Mo' change, mo' better.

The voters in his own state voted him out. If this is change,I should have voted for Ron Paul.
If he paid one hundred twenty eight thousand in back taxes, what was the actual amount he over looked. This is not change. It is the same old shit.

We'll call out (legitimate) President Obama when he's wrong.

And what tells you when Obama's wrong? Your hotline to God? And who's we?

This is a partisan battle, and I'd say you're allied with the wrong side.

Remember, folks, it's Obama's judgment you're impugning here. -Steve High

First, Obama's judgment is not circumespect; to believe so makes us no better than the mindless opposition we bemoan for fawning at the feet of their leaders.

Second, Obama certainly didn't know when he appointed Daschle or Geithner that they were tax cheats. Frankly, I think it should have disqualified them both, Geithner especially.

How good can these guys be if they can't do their taxes right?

Because the only other option is that they did it on purpose, and that begs an entirely different question.

And what tells you when Obama's wrong?

Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi. And my spidey sense.

And who's we? This is a partisan battle, and I'd say you're allied with the wrong side.

I'm on Team Reality Based. And I says you're not on my team.

There's no evidence that the guy underpaid on purpose, and yet words like "cheat" and "evasion" and "sleaze" keep popping up. -Boronx

Something about ignorance of the law not being a defense comes to mind.

There are really only two options here, ignorance or greed. Neither of which is a quality I look for in a cabinet or subcabinet level position.

Aren't there qualified people out there for HHS or Treasury who, you know, are capable or willing to pay their taxes? I have to think the answer is yes.

Forgetting to pay taxes is a major problem. He obviously lives a life far removed from the people he is supposed to be helping. I cannot believe that anything he will support will actually improve our miserable little lives or that he would be capable of recognizing good policy from bad. Not to mention that he was paid $220,000 during the last two years for speeches to the very organizations he will soon be regulating.
Howard Dean for HHS Sec!

Why is there even a question. If this was a Republican he would already be disqualified and the New York Times would be calling for a criminal investigation.Daschle was dodging taxes and the only reason he came clean was because of his nomination. What a dirtbag.

Ed G-

Try not to be so stupid. Partisan witchhunts go both ways. Always have and always will. If you can't see that, your allegiances blind you.

And this is coming from someone who thinks Daschle should be disqualified.

-Franklin

Daschle sure looks like privileged scum to me. I was on the fence just because of his glasses never mind his lobbying connectinos and his breaking of the laws that he's writing and voting on.

Under a Daschle healthcare plan, will the payment of premiums be voluntary? I don't see how Daschle will have the moral authority to penalize anyone for failing to pay them.

Lemme see:

1. June 2008, Hillary's campaign finishes up.
2. June 2008, Daschle first expresses interest in running HHS.
3. July 2008, Daschle "discovers" tax wrongdoing that's already 3 years old.

Coincidence You Can Believe In?

And, now, he's "apologizing" for what? Getting caught

===

Doubtful:

For Treasury, Joe Stiglitz would have been MUCH better than Geithner. But, because he was sounding the alarms on subprimes, derivatives and other shit 3 years ago, because he's not a Street insider anymore, because he's not connected to Goldman Sachs, and because he's not a DLC-type neolib, he didn't come even close to consideration by Obama.

“Make no mistake, tax cheaters cheat us all,
and the IRS should enforce our laws to the letter. �

Sen. Tom Daschle
Congressional Record
May 7, 1998
p. S4507

Hey folks. The future of our corrupt system is on the line here. We are dependent on its sustenance by the "good guys" that come with high praise from all the other good guys. Daschle is a poster child of how they are all captured in the system of corruption. Grab your ankles and stock your cupboards.

Watching Daschle's former colleagues leap to his defense and attest to his integrity and fairness, it's hard to argue that this isn't the guy you want convincing and cajoling and reassuring nervous senators when health reform turns hard. You want the guy who gets the benefit of the doubt.

What if, like Rep. Rangel (D-NY), they all have similar tax errors? They all have complex earnings, and it is reportedly the complexity of the tax laws compounded with the complexity of their earnings that is the heart of Daschle's negligible/forgiveable error.

dannyshenanigan: He's a LOBBYIST. His wife is a LOBBYIST. Why are distracting tax issues being discussed here? His firm lobbied for AT&T against FISA. He then praised it's passage as a pragmatic solution after the unfortunate congressional vote last year. Where's the outrage against lobbyists in the administration?

Obama is eroding his credibility. I don't think that he appreciates the nature of some of the problems that he has committed to solve.

But then, I have long maintained that the Democratic party is not, on the whole, cleaner than the Republican party. Now and again, here and there, one party is worse than the other for a while. Now that the Dems control Congress and Executive Branch, Dems are perhaps getting more spotlights shined on them.