After promising transparency and change. It sure seems like its the same ole same ole...
Tom Daschle, picked to spearhead U.S. health care reform,
failed to pay more than $128,000 in taxes.
Quote:
Obama was facing a new political distraction -- the disclosure that Tom Daschle, picked to spearhead U.S. health care reform, failed to pay more than $128,000 in taxes.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's nomination was held up earlier by criticism over late payment of $34,000 in taxes.
The White House said Obama expected Daschle, a former Senate Democratic majority leader and one of his key early supporters, to be confirmed by the Senate as secretary of Health and Human Services.
"The president has confidence that Senator Daschle is the right person to lead the fight for health care reform," Obama's press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said when the news broke. The White House reiterated that position on Saturday.
Obama has made accountability a key thrust of his approach since his election on a platform vowing sweeping change in the way Washington operates.
Daschle recently filed amended tax returns to pay back taxes, interest and penalties involving unreported consulting income, charitable contributions and use of a car service provided by a prominent businessman and Democratic donor.
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Quote:
Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., compared Daschle's issue with the tax problems that hindered the confirmation of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and those of Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., who is embroiled in a controversy over payment of taxes on a beachfront villa in the Dominican Republic.
"A pattern is developing," Cantor said. "The pattern is solidified. ... It's easy for the other side to sit here and advocate higher taxes because -- you know what? -- they don't pay them." Link
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Oh so after he gets the appointment and realizes that this is gonna blow up in his face, he decides to come clean. Better late than never? I don't think so. Seems as though these guys still think they are above the law. I dunno, maybe they are.