The best news I've read today.
Published Tue, Feb 3 2009 10:08 AM
Technorati Tags: Democrats, Corruption, Politics
Just saw a link to this up on twitter. A tip of the hat to @acmaurer.
WASHINGTON -- Tom Daschle has withdrawn his name from consideration for secretary of Health and Human Services, the Associated Press reports.
Now maybe we can get this tax cheat fitted for an orange jumpsuit. Hypocrisy in public officials can only go so far after all.
“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.
Oh, but what am I saying. He'll never be prosecuted for this. He is a Democrat after all.
[Update:A more detailed article is available from the Associated Press here. I guess there's still some reason to keep the Seattle Post Intelligencer around.
“Now we must move forward,” Obama said in a written statement accepting Daschle's request to be taken out of consideration. A day earlier, Obama had said he "absolutely" stood by Daschle.
Daschle, the former Senate Democratic leader, said he would have not been able to operate “with the full faith of Congress and the American people.”
“I am not that leader, and will not be a distraction” to Obama's agenda, he said.
His stunning statement came less than three hours after another Obama nominee also withdrew from consideration, and also over tax problems. Nancy Killefer, nominated by Obama to be the government's first chief performance officer, said she didn't want her bungling of payroll taxes on her household help to be a distraction.
What is it with the President's judgement these days anyway? That's at least THREE tax cheats he's nominated. Could it be that all of those conservatives that were questioning his judgement over Rev. Wright may have had a clue despite the attempts to stifle them?]
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David responded with:
 | Well, give the poor Obamassiah a break, would you? He's never actually had to DO anything in office before, just run for office and collect the checks. It's kinda tough for the guy to actually, like, make policy decisions, select a real, working staff and stuff.
But he does a great impression of a dung beetle. (At least he's got the dung beetle grin down.) |
ablur responded with:
 | That is some of the best news I have heard in quite a while. I was sure the untouchables and their chosen elite were going to screw the American people.
It is nice to see a liberal with convictions. |
Perri Nelson responded with: A liberal with convictions?
 | Yes, I'd like to see Tom Daschle with some convictions. I believe the only reason he withdrew his name was because of all the flack he was getting from conservatives, and because he knew it wasn't going to help “that one” to accomplish his agenda. Tom Daschle has no convictions to speak of. He's a hypocrite through and through. Nancy Killefer on the other hand seems to me to be more likely demonstrating some real convictions. Her tax problems are rather small, amounting to an error of about $300.00 if I've heard right, plus a fine of $600.00. I'm much more inclined to believe that that's an honest mistake than Mr. Daschle's $128,000.00 over three years. That's a systematic pattern of tax evasion, from the man that basically said we should treat tax cheats like criminals. |
Stanford Matthews responded with:
 | When nominated by a sitting President and having another nomination of a tax evader get confirmed who also now runs the IRS, yes, the chance of prosecuting Daschle for tax evasion seems remote.
What makes this especially sad of course is what happens to ordinary folks when they have IRS troubles. It also demonstrates the sad fact that so many white collar criminals like those who commit fraud and are taken to task by the likes of the SEC only to be banned from engaging in such business again and required to pay fines from the ill gotten gains they stole with no jail time. Because the government is too lame to prosecute and win plus favors are bestowed on behalf of the crooks.
To be fair, most cases are about fraud and if memory serves, the burden is on the prosecution to prove intent, etc., and that raises the bar above the competence of those responsible for handling the case. Sad but true.
In the case of Geithner our fine federal gov't has chosen what they claim is expedience by allowing a tax evader to run the Treasury and the IRS in times of economic turmoil. Where is the logic in that? Not to mention the lack of moral courage over politics and continuing double standards in DC. |
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