No, I think what made you roll your eyes was stupidity. You were unable to comprehend what was meant by change. You thought it was a superficial alteration of personnel, when in fact it was a fundamental shift in goals and policy. Smart people were not surprised when veterans were chosen to help bring about change.
Holy crap, I made an error on my taxes once. One of my friends, who is very fucking smart and not a fucking crook made the same fucking error for three years. It happens. Especially when your emplyer doesn’t give you the paperwork for something like a car and driver.
If taxes were a piece of cake there wouldn’t be tax attorneys and professional tax preparers.
Should he have known. I suppose so, ignorance of the law is no excuse. Then again I bet he speeds and jaywalks on occasion too.
I wouldn’t be a bit upset if Daschle were packed back to the northern plains.
Look, errors I can live with - gaming the system I can’t. I went pretty easy on Geithner for this reason - but I can’t say the same for Daschle. When he jumped through hoops to get a property tax exemption for city residents of DC - that isn’t making an error - that’s trying to get away with something.
Like I said before, this is starting to become sort of a pattern for the man. And while it isn’t the biggest sin in the world, and isn’t something he should go to jail over, is it something that should keep him out of the Cabinet? Probably. After all, he isn’t the only guy that can do the job.
The Washington Post has reported that Daschle realized the car-service error in June 2008, but did not tell the Obama team about it until a month after his nomination. Daschle has apparently said that he thought his accountants were taking care of the problem, and that he did not realize how large it was, and I have no reason to disbelieve that.
Still, even if you think it’s being solved, how do you not tell the vetters that this problem is out there?
Tom, I’m not as inclined to believe that Daschle is as naive and innocent at that. After all, this is a guy with the smarts and professional political savvy to become the Senate majority leader. Now we are to believe that he was just going to let his accountant handle the whole thing on his schedule and let Tom know what was up later on? He seemed to be savvy enough to not tell Obama’s people about it until much later in the process. I’d like to believe that he’d think to himself “I’m a national leader, and I’m not going to let my 2005 (and later) taxes slide one minute more.”
I wish Obama (who I voted for) would send Tom packing. Obama ran as an outsider who would change Washington, and change how business was done here. But part of the problem was and is, that Obama isn’t a Washington outsider. He’s a former United States Senator, who is standing by a past college who owed almost $150k over three years. I have news for you President Obama. You standing by him “100%” IS business as usual. And at some point, your supporters won’t by your buy that this is just another exception to another campaign pledge. There has to be someone else out there that can take Daschle’s place. Nominate that person instead. Action talks and bullshit walks.
I agree 100% with the sentiment, but I think it’s a little bigger deal than that.
Just to put things in perspective if you don’t think $128K in taxes is a big deal… Even at a non-descript tax rate of 25%, that totals up to $500K that he just kinda, sorta, misplaced, forgot about, fudged a bit, you know, wink wink, nod nod, shifty eyes, etc.
Of course Tom was already out of the Senate when he started reaping and misreporting his benefits, but compare that to Mr Felon - Ted Stevens, who was pretty much unanimously castigated and basically run out of town for nonreporting of about $90K ($250k renovation to his house for only $160K.)
Is Tom really so much different than Ted?
Just popping in to say that first part isn’t true at all. Family tax business deals with people with these types of issues and I’ve never seen someone thrown in jail for their tax debts-- and that’s in all my years of being around the business. I’ve seen flat out dirty liars who intentionally defrauded the government for much more than Daschle that went years without much enforcement.
If he were Joe Blow and the IRS caught up to him, they’d send a bunch of scary letters, hoping he’d get scared and pay up. Then, eventually (and I’m talking a ways down the line), they’d maybe garnish his check or swoop some money out of his bank account- maybe throw a lien on his house.
They like everyone to think they are going to come throw you into the debtor’s prison, but that’s incredibly unlikely unless you are an active tax protester (a ringleader of a tax protesting organization, actually).
I’m starting to think Daschle’s nomination may be in serious trouble. He’s getting mocked and chided by a couple of liberal columnists at the Post, and today there was an unflattering news article about all of his connections and his post-Senate activities. Also, NPR has begun to muse about whether he’s too closely connected to the health care industry.
He still has the advantage of having been a senator, but if he’s losing support on his own side, his friends in the Senate may start leaning on him to withdraw.
A New York Times editorial called for Daschle to pull his name from consideration today. That coupled with the news of Killefer’s withdrawl, may signal Obama that he might be straying too far from his pledge of a “new era of responsibility” that he made just two weeks ago.
I don’t think it’s worth it to him to expend so much energy pushing this though.
The taxes don’t bother me as much as all the money Daschle’s received as speaking fees from healthcare companies since he’s been out of the Senate.
And Daschle just withdrew.
CNN’s reporting he’s asked Obama to remove his name from consideration.
Hallelujah. The tax issue didn’t bother me that much, but the fact that Daschle comes perilously close to personifying the right-wing caricature of the sleazy, unprincipled, grandstanding, self-serving, ineffectual Democrat was a bit harder to get past.
Yes he did.
Thought you’d chime in earlier Shayna. A bunch of the usual suspects sat this one out though.
Good.
What’s Howard Dean up to these days?
Perhaps it’s because of how you address us with such disrespect.
Nancy Killefer is out as well. She was slated to be the White House performance czar.
Same issue - she didn’t pay taxes to DC for her household help.
Just speaking for myself, I’m a mite suspicious of a Democrat with a maid.
Please quote in this thread where I addressed anyone, especially the President in a “disrespet[ful]” manor. I voted for the guy, I wanted him to do the right thing. And I’ve seen you enter the fray on many other occasions without such trepidation. Daschle was near impossible to support, that’s why you stayed home. You can say it, it won’t hurt.
No matter. I’m pleased the administration stood tall on this one. My confidence in the boss is restored.