Daschle Withdraws Nomination

The Obama administration's cheering over Attorney General nominee Eric Holder's confirmation was short-lived, as Nancy Killefer ended her bid to be the first "Chief Performance Officer" (apparently over a tax issue with household help) and now former Senator majority leader Tom Daschle is no longer a contender to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. Daschle, who owed over $128,000 in back taxes, issued a statement, "If 30 years of exposure to the challenges inherent in our system has taught me anything, it has taught me that this work will require a leader who can operate with the full faith of Congress and the American people, and without distraction….Right now, I am not that leader, and will not be a distraction.” President Obama also said he accepted and regretted Daschle's decision, "Tom made a mistake, which he has openly acknowledged. He has not excused it, nor do I. But that mistake, and this decision, cannot diminish the many contributions Tom has made to this country from his years in the military to his decades of public service.”

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on February 3, 2009 1:25 PM

Comments [rss]

mcc32

i'm concerned about his dopey red glasses.

Felix Hoenikker

Tax issues aside, I'm more concerned about the political favors given in return for this 'car service'.

What a shameless whore.

verbal

transparency my ass.

whatever happened to the 60 page pre-vetting questionnaire?

Pull My Finger

Fuck him. No lock his ass up. Freeze his accounts. Take his house.

verbal

if it was you or me, we'd be in jail already.

chuzzlewit

well played bam.

djwerdna

I was more concerned about his affiliation with health care groups.

ides_of_march

To be quite honest, Daschle has a point. The tax code is so ridiculously complicated and invasive, it's an abomination. Why is it the government's business if somebody gave you a car and driver as part of a job? It shouldn't be.

The problem is, it's politicians like Daschle who are responsible for the situation so I have a hard time mustering sympathy for him.

FLAT TAX.

Politburo

Funny how you only put stock in what Daschle has to say only when you can use it to make a lame argument for a lame policy.

What's odd, though, is that he did not say what you claim he did. I don't see anything in any writeup that indicates Daschle is claiming the tax system is too complicated, let alone "invasive" (ha).

And even if he did, it wouldn't even be an excuse. This is a simple case of unreported income. A flat tax wouldn't fix that.

ides_of_march

"I don't see anything in any writeup that indicates Daschle is claiming the tax system is too complicated, let alone "invasive" (ha)."

Pardon me for getting information from more than one source.

Politburo

Well, what source was it then?

NB: I said "any writeup", not "any Gothamist writeup".

ma bell

great argument against the flat tax...really drove your points home against it

Politburo

Where was the argument for the flat tax? All ides did was make up something that Daschle didn't say, and then put "FLAT TAX" at the end of his post. Was that so convincing to you that I really need to respond with a substantive argument?

ma bell

if you're going to call something "lame" at least say why you think its lame. ides commented how it would make the system much easier for the common taxpayer. you said it was a "lame" system. to call something lame means you should have an explanation as to why its lame. silly me for liking details