BlogWonks

Well, when even a biased liberal rag like The New York Times is telling Tom Daschle the gig is up, that’s really saying something.

When President Obama nominated former Senator Tom Daschle to be his secretary of health and human services, it seemed to be a good choice. Mr. Daschle, as the co-author of a book on health care reform, knew a lot about one of the president’s signature issues. As a former Senate majority leader, he also knew a lot about guiding controversial bills through Congress, where he remains liked and respected by former colleagues.

Unfortunately, new facts have come to light — involving his failure to pay substantial taxes that were owed and his sizable income from health-related companies while he worked in the private sector — that call into question his suitability for the job. We believe that Mr. Daschle ought to step aside and let the president choose a less-blemished successor.

Mr. Daschle’s tax shortfall is particularly troubling because it comes on the heels of another nominee’s failure to pay taxes due. We were not pleased when the president’s Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, admitted that he had failed to pay tens of thousands of dollars in federal self-employment taxes while working for the International Monetary Fund despite having signed paperwork acknowledging the obligation.

Now we are confronted with an even larger lapse by Mr. Daschle, who failed to pay $128,000 in taxes, primarily for personal use of a car and driver provided to him by a private equity firm for which he consulted. Although the firm — headed by a major Democratic donor — had not issued a form 1099 for the value of the car service, Mr. Daschle said he became concerned last June that he might owe taxes on it and instructed his accountant to investigate. Neither was concerned enough to actually pay the taxes.

Only after the Obama transition team flagged unrelated tax issues that would require filing amended returns did Mr. Daschle and his accountant address the need to report the personal use value of the car service — more than $255,000 over three years — as income. Only after he had been chosen to be the health secretary did Mr. Daschle tell the transition team about the unpaid taxes. He paid some $140,000 in back taxes and interest on Jan. 2 to settle several tax problems — and he acknowledges owing more.

If Tom Dasche had any class he would’ve already  voluntarily pulled his nomination. But then again, if he had any class Daschle  would’ve paid his taxes in the first place instead of trying to get away with something. And, if Mr. Hope and Change had any class or any scruples, he would’ve pulled the nomination as well.  No such luck though, as Obama is going to go to the mat for Daschle.

So, it’s up to the Senate to do the right thing and vote thumbs down.  No way in hell such an ethically compromised guy belongs in a high cabinet level position, or really any other position. Whatever happens here will really tell us a lot about the Senate GOP. Will they have the guts to do the right thing, or will they bend over for Obama like they did with the Geithner nomination? I’m afraid to get the answer.

(via Hot Air)