Tom Daschle Withdraws as Obama's Health Secretary Nominee

by politisite | February 3, 2009 at 04:11 am

2258 views | 66 Recommendations | 19 comments

By Albert N. Milliron, Editor, Politisite.com, Iron Mill Interactive Media, inc

On the condition of Anonymity a top Aide to President Obama stated, early this morning, that Tom Daschle will withdraw his name from nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Health and Human Services secretary nominee Daschles tax issues continues to expose themselves like an onion. Following President Obama's nomination it was shortly reviled that Former Senator Daschle had some tax issues that caused him to quickly correct a tax violations, voluntarily paying $101,943 in back taxes plus interest. He quickly also amended his Tax forms for the years 2005 and 2007.

These tax issues were based on a gift of transportation that could have been overlooked by the nominee. Upon learning of the tax liability he quickly corrected the mistake. Admittedly this tax liability issue could have been an honest mistake by the nominee. The talking points on the issue seemed to emphasis the honest mistake on the nominees part and was quickly put to rest. The main stream media dominated this component of the tax liability and most Americans, knowing the complexity of some of the tax law, appeared to give Senator Daschle a quick pass on the subject.

Late yesterday, a few other tax issues arose including $83,333 in consulting income that Daschle failed to report in 2007. While the main stream media was focusing on the obscure components of the tax code, they failed to bring up that Mr. Daschle received funds for speaking engagements that other activities that he failed to add as income to his tax forms. Most Americans are aware that Income is income which shortly made Nominee Daschles plight for forgiveness and his desire to be confirmed as the Health and Human Services Secretary a little shaky. To add insult to injury, most of this income came from Health organizations. The very sector of the Government he will be asked to maintain oversight and implement legislation.

The next issue that pealed away from the onion revealed that Senator Daschle had identified certain charitable donations that did not qualify by the internal Revenue Service as meeting the criteria as such. So $14,963 he had deducted as charity where not so based on IRS criteria.

While one can give Nominee Daschle a passon the automobile use that he questioned if it was considered income, there is little doubt that he was attempting to short the United States Government the tax liability associated with the Income he received from consulting and his attempting to take a charitablr deductions by entities that do not qualify by the IRS as charitable contributions.

Based upon the newly reveled information. The Obama Administration has withdrawn it's full support from Nominee Daschle and Close Aides are saying that Daschle will be no longer be the HHS nominee with in the next 24-48 hours.

NY Times calls for Daschle’s withdrawal

What happens when your own cheerleading team starts booing one of your players? Barack Obama just found out. The New York Times has called for Tom Daschle to withdraw, and for Obama to find another, “less-blemished” Secretary of HHS, and not just regarding taxes (via The Corner):

Update 13:01 Hrs CNN confirms White House: Tom Daschle asks President Obama to withdraw his nomination for health and human services secretary. This comes 5 hours after we broke the story

Tom Daschle's Letter to Committee on Tax Issues

February 1, 2009

Dear Chairman Baucus and Senator Grassley: Thank you for the work you and the Committee are doing to move forward on my nomination by President Obama to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. I know that despite the heavy workload from both the Economic Recovery Act and SCHIP, as well as all the nominees the Committee is handling, your staff has worked diligently on my nomination. I also appreciate the strong commitment to fairness you both have expressed.

As you can well imagine, I am deeply embarrassed and disappointed by the errors that required me to amend my tax returns. I apologize for the errors and profoundly regret that you have had to devote time to them. I will be happy to answer any Committee members’ questions about these issues. In the meantime, as a follow-up to our conversations, I would like to briefly review three issues discussed at my meeting with your staff and mentioned in our meeting on Thursday. Last fall, when I was being considered for this position, the Presidential Transition Team’s vetters reviewed my records. During the course of those reviews, the vetting team flagged charitable contributions they felt were deducted in error. When my accountant realized I would need to file amended returns, he suggested addressing another matter I had raised with him earlier in the year: whether the use of a car service offered to me by a close friend might be a tax issue. In December, my accountant advised me that it should be reported as imputed income in the amended returns. At about the same time, the friend’s company, a consulting client, informed my accountant of a clerical error it had made on the Form 1099 it provided to me and reported to the IRS for 2007. In an effort to ensure full compliance and the most complete disclosure possible of my personal finances, we remedied these issues by filing amended tax returns with full payments, including interest. We provided all this information to the Committee in addition to the completed Committee questionnaire and my responses to your staff’s questions.

I disclosed this information to the Committee voluntarily, and paid the taxes and any interest owed promptly. My mistakes were unintentional. I am available to answer any further questions you might have and look forward to coming before the Committee in the very near future to discuss the critical health and human services issues facing our country. Should I be approved by your Committee and confirmed by the Senate, I look forward to working in partnership with you both to pass meaningful legislation that will help Americans get the health reform they need and deserve and to ensure that all HHS programs and activities reflect a commitment to responding to the needs of our citizens in a manner that is compassionate, cost-effective, and transparent.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely, Tom Daschle

Related Stories from the Blogisphere:

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Somebody Saw Daschle's Departure Coming

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

BARACK OBAMA

Somebody Saw Daschle's Departure Coming

Note to self: Trust Politisite, because as of 4:11 this morning they were reporting Daschle was out.

Quote of the day: "I hope Judd Gregg didn't pay his taxes."

02/03 02:06 PM

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Edmund Jenks

at 05:36 on February 3rd, 2009

This can only be good news for the health industry.

Daschles tax (evasion) issue habits which were incurred while he was operating as a person who peddled influence as a former well connected member of the Senate (a lobbyist) are finally coming home to roost (as it were).

I guess this pick of Daschle was a reach too far after the approvals of Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner.

politisite

at 05:49 on February 3rd, 2009

Thanks for your comment Ed.

Marisa Olivia

at 06:11 on February 3rd, 2009

Thanks for the post. Given Obama's policy of transparency, I'm not sure he could have done anything else about this.

Edmund Jenks

at 06:42 on February 3rd, 2009

He could have done a better job of living up to his campaign rhetoric before picking people like Eric Holder, Timothy Geither, and Tom Daschel in the first place.

If you hadn't noticed, Barack Obama is all for the "SPENDulus" package legislation that left the House of Representatives at face value even though the package was mostly a bill that did little to address the issue of economic stimulus (most of the money spent in the bill would not even kick in for 18 months and many of the provisions were former "earmarks" that had been rejected on previous legislation packages).

This is not Hope or Change in the re-making of America from the now President of the United States, Barack Obama.

It is time to start throwing stuff under the bus ... after Daschel, why not add the Billion$ of dollars targeted for spending on ACORN, the National Endowment for the Arts, contriception, seeding the Washing DC lawns, new cars for the US Government fleet (that was 600 million alone - about the investment in the entire existing fleet today), Amtrak, studying climate change, teaching children about sexually transmitted diseases, and Head Start.

What does this have anything to do with jump starting an economy that was sent off of the tracks through the social engineering caused sub-prime lending and the mission creep strategy of the bulk packaging and selling of JUNK MORTGAGES to foreign investors?

Marisa Olivia

at 11:00 on February 3rd, 2009

I would not attribute the sub-prime crisis to social engineering. That was irresponsibility on the part of the real-estate lenders, no doubt brought on by the incredibly lax corporate laws that didn't force them to be responsible with other people's money. It's not like the federal government was going crazy with social spending during the Bush years... or does the Iraq War count for that?

Perhaps more pre-nomination investigation should have gone ahead before these people were brought to the table in the first place. That would have been ideal.

But to say that the administration is not living up to its rhetoric because of this - I find that to be a bit preemptive. Especially after 8 years of destruction of the US economy that took the country from surplus to trillions in deficit.

Funding towards programs such as climate change, STDs, and Head Start may not be the most economically stimulating in terms of next week. But over time, if run effectively, they could certainly ease the burden on emissions, health, and education, where ignoring these needs had led to widespread social and economic problems, skewed towards lower income populations. I think programs like this need and deserve funding.

Edmund Jenks

at 14:12 on February 3rd, 2009

Actually, the Bush administration was allowing a crazy spending spree by the Government ... did you ever hear of "Dub-ya" pulling out his VETO pen, or have Chris Cox launch a lawsuit against Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac - the answer is NO.

The military spending issue is a rouse, the percentage increase is minimal over what we would have spent just to maintain the military we already had in place in order to protect our intrests.

Have you ever heard of the outfit named ACORN? They brought lawsuits against banks and savings and loans on behalf of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to open up the issuing of these sub-prime loans because more houses sold through this channel meant bigger bonuses to the upper management of these organizations - and more campaign money to the Democrat Party for elections.

The whole thing just blew up like a firecracker planted in a pound of cocaine.

If the goal is to put more people to work, then the Government needs to place the bulk of OUR money toward stimulating private business enterprises - not make work pet projects that were gathering dust from being rejected as "earmarks" in previous legislative agendas.

Fund Government programs in Government funding legislation - Stimulate the economy through reduced Government loads (clear the decks) upon private citizens and business.

As it stands right now, Congress wants to saddle you and me with Carter era STAGFLATION.

Edmund Jenks

at 07:11 on February 3rd, 2009

This observation posted over at Instapundit:

A GEITHNER/DASCHLE/RANGEL INSPIRED IDEA FROM JIM BENNETT:

“There must be some way for the GOP to move out aggressively on the administration’s IRS problems beyond making speeches that will be forgotten within days. I am sensing a huge anger on this out there.

What about the idea of a moratorium on IRS audits for middle-class taxpayers (using any of Obama’s campaign-trail definitions, from $250K/yr on down) for at least a year?

Obviously the IRS is short on auditors, so why not deploy them where they are most needed?”

Why not just audit anyone who wants to serve (and lobby the representatives of) the citizens of the United States! That alone may just be enough to stimulate the economy.

This is not the first time for Tom Daschel and having a problem with evading taxes.

Tom Daschle is a serial dodger.

In addition to all the “glitches” he has apologized to the Senate Finance Committee for, there’s another important episode in his financial history that bears mention (click link).

lefty_liberated

at 06:51 on February 3rd, 2009

that is a bummer

Edmund Jenks

at 06:56 on February 3rd, 2009

Six major newspapers including the New York Times are calling for his name to be withdrawn!

This is a bummer? ... THIS is Change We Can Believe In!

politisite

at 06:59 on February 3rd, 2009

There will be a White House briefing later today. I think we got this one first guys.

Amy Judd

at 08:28 on February 3rd, 2009

An excellent and easy to read story - thanks.

Rob Walker

at 09:52 on February 3rd, 2009

CNN is reporting that Sen. Daschle is withdrawing his nomination.

Former Sen. Tom Daschle has withdrawn his nomination as Health and Human Services secretary, according to a written statement from the White House.

Daschle had been fighting to save his nomination following controversy over his tax records and questions over his work in a field that some consider lobbying.

politisite

at 12:59 on February 3rd, 2009

Isn't it nice to have a 5 hour exclusive on a story once in a while.

Barbara McPherson

at 10:44 on February 3rd, 2009

Didn't Al Capone go to jail for tax evasion?

tikun

at 13:07 on February 3rd, 2009

I wonder who vetted these people. This is not a very good start. Prison for all of us if we had these tax issues.

158

at 14:39 on February 3rd, 2009

This had to happen to go forward for Obama. It was too much of a distraction.

politisite

at 17:38 on February 3rd, 2009

Agreed.

Paschen

at 17:43 on February 3rd, 2009

He did so only after a public out cry and major anger, not prior to it. And Obama nominated him even excused him and he is still in Office.

politisite

at 17:19 on February 5th, 2009

Somebody Saw Daschle's Departure Coming

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

BARACK OBAMA

Somebody Saw Daschle's Departure Coming

Note to self: Trust Politisite, because as of 4:11 this morning they were reporting Daschle was out.

Quote of the day: "I hope Judd Gregg didn't pay his taxes."

02/03 02:06 PM