Why Is Daschle Out and Geithner In?
Tom Daschle explained his withdrawal from twin posts as the point person on ObamaCare and secretary of Health and Human Services by stating he did not want to damage the President's universal health care overhaul.
Of course Daschle should have been more careful and concurrently paid the more than $100,000 he owed in taxes for the use of a car and driver. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner should also have known that he owed the IRS $34,000 in back taxes when he worked for the International Monetary Fund from 2001 to 2004. The question is why is Geithner, who now oversees the IRS, confirmed as Treasury Secretary and Daschle out as ObamaCare cheifain?
Wall Street and K-street don't have a problem with Geithner. Daschle, on the other hand, has worried a lot of drug company, HMO and medical establishment lobbyists with his book, Critical, that calls for a public health care program to compete with the private market. I recently opined on the need for such a Medicare expansion in an LA Times oped. Daschle's also talked tough about the waste among private health insurers, the profiteering of drug companies and the need for curbing excessive end of life care under Medicare that fails to improve the quality of life, but costs taxpayers a fortune. The medical-insurance complex had to be concerned about Daschle's power.
Geithner was said to be irreplaceable, so he was confirmed. Daschle isn't irreplaceable for health care reformers, but Obama would make a big mistake in appointing a replacement with any lessor convictions on the topic of a public health care option and curbing the medical-insurance establishment's waste and greed. Obama should send a signal to K-street, who no doubt had a hand in Daschle's demise, by appointing an even stronger voice for patients to the post.
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Daschle Pushed Patron For Obama Job: Dem
Tom Daschle backed the patron who paid him a million-dollar salary and supplied him with a free car and driver for a job inside the...
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Tom Daschle Withdraws Nomination For HHS Secretary
Additional reporting by Sam Stein and Rachel Weiner WASHINGTON -- Tom Daschle withdrew Tuesday as President Barack Obama's nominee to be health and human services...
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Deliberating on Daschle
Critics of President Obama will use the Daschle incident to claim that Obama is not really about change, and is captive of the same politicians and lobbyists who have always run Washington.
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Danger: Creeping Puritanism
Tom Daschle's resignation should have been accepted, however, that of Nancy Killefer should have been refused. Responses must be tailored to the "sin." Not all imperfections make a person unfit for office.
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Democratic Tax Goof Follies
The Daschle-Geithner-Killefer tax goof is based on an almost-unconscious hope that the system they theoretically want to work ... won't.
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Daschle's Situation, and the Small-Dollar Solution
Like many decent people, Daschle got caught in a bad system that is so corrupted by money it hardly matters whether the money is from good people with good intentions or bad people with bad intentions.
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Tax Avoidance as the New "Sin"
The modern version of: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" has arrived. It is: "Let he (or she) who has not told his accountant to do whatever they can in order to pay the least taxes cast the first stone."
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Why Obama's Well-Oiled Machine Screwed Up on Daschle and Company
The vetters are not supposed to rely on let alone accept the word of the prospective nominee that they paid what they owed.
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The Untold Daschle Story: The Blacklisting of Progressive Economics
Though Obama won on promises to challenge Wall Street, there has been a calculated effort to stack the administration with the very Wall Street Democrats who created the problems he lamented.
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Daschle's Premature Dash
The only thing more implausible than believing that a multi-millionaire with national ambitions would willfully try to defraud the IRS of $140,000 is believing that a man like that actually does his own taxes.
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Are We Doing the Bidding of Conservatives?
Media coverage has been dominated with hysteria over tax mistakes already rectified, and claims of "pork" in the economic recovery bill -- all aiming to paint the new White House as hypocritical old politics.
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Progressive Agenda Tip #1: Pay Your Taxes
When our leaders, or even our potential leaders, fail to contribute to the collective good, it feeds our lack of faith in them as stewards of the incredible coercive power of government.
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Howard Dean for HHS or Health Czar
There's no way that Rahm Emanuel's animosity toward Dean can be explained away if they pass over him again, especially given his tremendous success at the DNC.
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Obama Considers Tax on Cabinet
President Obama is mulling a controversial new tax program that would require members of his Cabinet to pay taxes owed under the Federal tax code, the White House confirmed today.
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geithner worked for kissinger, daschle did not. that was the difference.
Uh Jamie Court -- how do you figure?
Daschle appeared to be palling around with, taking money from and to some degree doing the bidding of medical insurance types. He may have outlined some critcisms in his book but I'm not aware of anything in Daschle's political background that suggests he's a fighter ready to go toe to toe for a cause he believes in. He seemed to be more of go along to get along type politician I'm I wrong in this perception?
It was not Geithner who put the millions on pallets and lost it over in Iraq, but the Pentagon. It did not come from the New York Fed, but the Pentagon.
Anyway, Daschle pulled himself out. Geithner stayed firmly in. Daschle should have stayed in and took the heat. But he chose not to. I don't blame him.
http://eye-on-washington.blogspot.com
Can someone PLEASE ask Mr. Geithner where the 10 billion dollars he put on wooden pallettes and sent to Iraq only to mysteriously disappear is?
WHY is no one asking this man what happened? And if he's planning another pallette shipment of cash to Afghanistan?
It's sad that the Geithner, Daschle interest story goes beyond intelligent thinking for most. People are too busy getting consumed in the Rethugs revenge tactics and the punditry of those who are not feeling any pain in the economy.
I will take the tax issues (that were paid) against torture, invading of countries that were not our enemy, illegal wiretaps and the horrible treatment of our men and women who have served this country over this type of scandal, anyday.
Where were all these antennas for the last 8 years. I bet if we start with Congress, and then on to the Senate, you will find a whole lot of "scandals" regarding taxes. Obama's taxes were paid. I don't think in he personally would be the one to look at all of his nominees taxes for the last 5 - 10 years. Obama thought that good people didn't make slips like that. That's how he does it.
2 weeks in office and my beliefs have come true. The man will be hounded for every little thing for the next 8 years. But that's okay, because when things started looking better in about a year, he will still be riding on the wings of his favorability. I still believe he only wants to do whats right for this country.
In Dasche's case, his failure to pay taxes are the least of it. Does anyone really believe that rich people just like to give ex-Senators stuff, like limos and drivers, for nothing? Geithner situation is quite different.
The problem is finding people of principle who have not previously displayed that characteristic.
The unpaid taxes were just part of it. Here's why Daschle's out:
"He made more than $200,000 in the past two years speaking to members of the industry that President Barack Obama wants him to reform.
The speaking fees were just a portion of the more than $5.2 million the former South Dakota senator earned over the past two years as he advised health insurers and hospitals and worked in other industries such as energy and telecommunications, according to a financial statement filed with the Office of Government Ethics."
http://www.startribune.com/politics/38773547.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUnciatkEP7DhUsl
Daschle's tax problems coming on the heels of Geitner's problems and Richardson's exit, sent the wrong message from a President wanting the appearance and substance of responsibility.
I vote for Howard Dean but that's unlikely given Rahm Emanuel's dislike for him.
Couldn't agree more ! In fact I've set up a blog - www.geithnergate.com - where people can vote on whether Tim Geithner should be US Tresuary Secretary - so far its 81% no. Please visit and cast your vote !
Your link is not taking me there.
It seems that with Obama unwilling to fight hard for Daschle's position, and what was most likely a well choreographed withdrawl process, that the real issue here is that health care reform has been triaged and set aside in consideration of the more critical patient, economic stimulus. The only action by Obama that would get me to believe he hasn't as a practical matter, abandoned health care for the foreseeable future, would be to replace the HHS Secretary nomination with an equally high profile and passionate believer in real health care reform.
The sickest, uninsured, excluded and most economically devastated by the broken health care system among us, may have just been slipped over the side of the lifeboat, in favor of those who still have a ticket to ride and can still afford it (health insurance and care).
I think it's because they don't want healthcare for us. I saw him on c-span, he really understands the healthcare issues and can articulate it like no other. I want Tom Daschle in. I think we should start a boycott to say we want him in there somehow. someway!
How about John Conyers? He helped to start a PAC dedicated to advocating for universal healthcare. http://www.healthcare-now.org/
I see where this is going, Jamie, however, Daschle is not your guy. He was/is the health insurance industry's tool. No conspiracy here, just plain ol' greed on Daschle's part.
Uh..Daschle dropped out.
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