Tom Daschle Faces More Tax Issues As Questions Arise Over Trips with Charities

Tom Daschle with wife Linda Daschle in background, Getty Images

Sorry, but former Sen. Tom Daschle should not be confirmed as our next Health and Human Services Secretary. He is already facing questions over his failure to pay some of his taxes in a timely fashion, but now comes another question — whether he improperly took gifts of value from charities with which he was involved. The man is toxic at this point and it is simply not worth the headache to confirm him. The charities involved in this latest dustup are EduCap Inc., Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation, Academy Achievement and Loan to Learn. The Finance Committee staff is reviewing whether travel and entertainment services provided to the Daschles by these charities should be reported as income.

People familiar with Mr. Daschle’s case said the question involves two flights he took aboard EduCap’s corporate jet to vacation destinations to speak with members of the board of directors of the Academy of Achievement, a related organization. In February 2006, Mr. Daschle flew to the academy’s annual retreat in the Bahamas. The next month, he flew with academy officials to Jordan, Egypt and Israel to scout out sites for the group’s international awards ceremony. While there, the delegation met with Jordan’s King Abdullah and Israeli minister Ehud Barack, said Daschle spokesman Jenny Backus. Source: Wall Street Journal

There is a slight problem with that. Under federal tax law, which Daschle should be well aware, individuals involved with a charity are not allowed to take anything of personal value. So, EduCap issue aside, Mr. Daschle is facing some other tax issues that do not portray him positively. These issues involve: access to a car and driver provided by private-equity firm InterMedia Advisors LLP, valued at $255,256, that went unreported on his taxes between 2005 and 2007; $83,333 in consulting-service income from InterMedia that went unreported in 2007; and improper deductions for contributions to a foster-care charity. Mr. Daschle paid $140,167 in late tax and interest payments on Jan. 2, after Mr. Obama nominated him. That is simply not good enough.

One has to wonder if he would have bothered to pay the money had he not been up for nomination for this position. Some have said that this is will not derail his bid for the position, but it should. The money involved pales in comparison to Timothy Geithner’s tax problems. Some Republicans called on Mr. Geithner to withdraw his nomination, but I have yet to hear one Republican senator do the same. Is there a brotherhood in the Senate that ignores serious lapses in judgment of one of their own?

Filed under: Academy Achievement, Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation, EduCap, InterMedia Advisors LLP, Loan to Learn, Senate Confirmation, Tax Issues, Tom Daschle, Travel

How can change occur if the Obama Administration puts Washington insiders in most Cabinet positions?

Although I will reserve my final judgment until at least 100 days after Obama has taken the oath of office, I must admit that I am not happy with what I’m seeing with the Cabinet picks:

Obama is enlisting former Senate leader Tom Daschle as his health secretary. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a well-known Washington personality, seemed more likely than ever to be his secretary of state. […] Obama is ready to announce that his attorney general will be Eric Holder, the Justice Department’s No. 2 when Clinton’s husband was president. Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s chief of staff, is another veteran of the Clinton White House. […]

Republicans sniped at what they saw as an unwelcome trend. Alex Conant, spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said, “Barack Obama is filling his administration with longtime Washington insiders.” Source: Associated Press

I voted for Obama, because I preferred him over Hillary Clinton. If I wanted to see a Cabinet full of Washington insiders with Clinton Administration connections, I would have voted for Hillary Clinton. It is a disappointment that these appointments seem to be political paybacks, rather than what would be best for the country.

I’ve said many times before that I would have loved to see a Presidential Cabinet made up of names I’ve never heard before. Couldn’t we find somebody more qualified that these same tired old names that have been in Washington forever?

As I stated earlier, I will reserve my final judgment until after I see the first fruits of the Obama Administration. Until then, I plan to watch the how the remainder of appointments go and will weigh in as they happen. For the record, I still stand by my decision to vote for Barack Obama because the hope of him bringing change to Washington was much better than the guarantee that McCain would allow things to continue on the path of the previous eight years.

So my question is do you think that these Obama Administration Cabinet picks represents real change in Washington, or do you feel that it indicates Washington politics as usual?

Filed under: Barack Obama, By Cheri Thomas, change you can believe in, Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton, National Republican Committee, Obama Administration, Rahm Emmanuel, Tom Daschle