Soccer Dad

Tom's terrific travails

Powerline minces no words.

Suffice it to say that appointing Tom Daschle to a Cabinet position doesn't constitute "reform." Obama promised "change," but increasingly, that "change" looks like more shameless graft, corruption and cronyism than ever took place when the Republicans were in charge.

(via memeorandum)

Jennifer Rubin tells Republican that they ought to draw the appropriate conclusions.

For those Republicans who are remaining mute, they may want to reconsider. Silence is a dangerous game, giving the appearance that Republicans are behind the curve and out to lunch.

That's made easier today,when the editors of the NY Times have found their ethical sense.

In both the Geithner and Daschle cases, the failure to pay taxes is attributed to unintentional oversights. But Mr. Daschle is one oversight case too many. The American tax system depends heavily on voluntary compliance. It would send a terrible message to the public if we ignore the failure of yet another high-level nominee to comply with the tax laws.

Now I'm not sure that they meant this to sound like the main problem is that Daschle is the second nominee with tax problems. In other words they're willing to allow one tax dodging cabinet member, but two is too much for them. However they arrived at the correct conclusion.

Mr. Daschle is another in a long line of politicians who move cozily between government and industry. We don't know that his industry ties would influence his judgments on health issues, but they could potentially throw a cloud over health care reform. Mr. Daschle could clear the atmosphere by withdrawing his name.

If even the NY Times opposes Daschle now, why won't Republicans?

UPDATE: The Washington Post excuses them both. I guess give them points for consistency.

THE TAX PROBLEMS plaguing the nomination of former senator Thomas A. Daschle to be secretary of health and human services are troubling -- as were the problems of Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner. In both cases, the nominees had failed to pay the full amount of taxes they owed. While there is no evidence of willful evasion in either instance, it is difficult to understand how people of their sophistication could have blundered in this way.

Not "willful" but "difficult to understand?" Even if I grant that it's not willful, don't these cases at least raise questions about their ability to run a government department? An average American is expected to know about his tax liabilities, why not our leaders?

The Post notes:

The six-month delay between Mr. Daschle's recognition of the problem and his filing amended returns raises questions about whether he would have addressed the problem had he not been nominated for a Cabinet post.

Doesn't that raise a red flag?

Mr. Daschle is not the first former lawmaker to parlay public service into private-sector wealth, but his haul after leaving the Senate -- more than $5 million over two years -- hardly comports with Mr. Obama's assertions that he would end Washington business as usual.

Exactly correct. Though some us can't say that we're surprised.