Daschle Is Latest Democrat Tax Cheat

First it was Obama's pick for Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner. Now it is former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle who has tax problems.

From FoxNews.com:

Daschle reportedly waited nearly a month after being nominated to be secretary of health and human services before informing President Obama that he had not paid years of back taxes.

The Washington Post reported Sunday that Daschle paid $140,000 in back taxes and interest to the U.S. Treasury on Jan. 2, and about two days later informed the White House and the Senate Finance Committee, the White House confirmed to the Post.

From the L.A. Times Blog by Andrew Malcolm:

Uh, it seems that Democrat Barack Obama's secretary of the Treasury-designate owed something like $34,000 in back taxes when he was picked to head the nation's financial system.

Uh, it seems Timothy Geithner owed the back taxes because the would-be member of the president's new Cabinet employed a housekeeper who became an illegal immigrant while working for him. And Geithner did not pay self-employment taxes for several years until the IRS audited him.

It seems the Obama transition team discovered the back taxes while researching the nominee, unlike the federal grand jury investigation of now former would-be secretary of Commerce-designate Bill Richardson.

It seems that such legal problems have derailed would-be Cabinet members in the past -- think Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood for Bill Clinton and Linda Chavez for George W. Bush.

Of course, since the American people elected The Messiah, it is okay to appoint tax cheats to government positions. These are all honest mistakes. Right.

No wonder the Democrats have no problem in raising taxes, they don't pay any!

UPDATE (2/3/09):

WASHINGTON (AP) - Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination on Tuesday to be President Barack Obama's Health and Human Services secretary, dealing potential blows to both speedy health care reform and Obama's hopes for a smoother start as president.
"Now we must move forward," Obama said in a written statement accepting "with sadness and regret" Daschle's surprise request to be removed from consideration. A day earlier, Obama had said he "absolutely" stood by Daschle in the face of problems over back taxes and potential conflicts of interest.

Daschle, the former Senate Democratic leader and a strong backer of Obama's presidential bid, said he would have been unable to operate "with the full faith of Congress and the American people."

"I am not that leader, and will not be a distraction" to Obama's agenda, he said.