http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2009/02/01/daschle-delayed-tax-revelation/ ==== Thomas Andrew Daschle (born December 9, 1947) is a former U.S. Senator and Senate Majority Leader from South Dakota. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He is President Barack Obama's nominee to serve as the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) in Obama's Cabinet.[1] ====== FOXNews.com Sunday, February 01, 2009 Former South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle 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 reports. On Jan. 2, Daschle paid $140,000 in back taxes and interest to the U.S. Treasury and about two days later informed the White House and the Senate Finance Committee, the White House confirmed to the Post. Obama's transition team discovered in December that $15,000 of the $276,000 in charitable contributions claimed by Daschle lacked proper documentation. But Daschle waited until after amended returns were filed before he mentioned the larger tax liability. Daschle spokeswoman Jenny Backus said he had known since June 20(0)8 that his luxury car and driver provided by wealthy Democratic donor, longtime friend and business associate Leo Hindery might be taxable, but never expected the amount to be such a "jaw-dropping" sum and "thought it was being taken care of" by his accountant. Hindery founded InterMedia Partners, a private equity firm, in 1988. Daschle was paid $1 million annually for his consulting services, the Senate Finance Committee said. Daschle had an unreported consulting income of $88,333, in 2007. Bloomberg reported that Backus said Daschle was "embarrassed and disappointed" by what had occurred. "Senator Daschle is embarrassed and disappointed by these errors," Backus said. "He apologized for his part in these errors and expressed his deep regret that the committee had to devote time to them." The White House acknowledged Friday that Daschle had "some tax issues," which, the administration said, have been resolved and should not bar his confirmation as secretary. A statement issued by the White House affirmed that Daschle "is the right person to lead the fight for health care reform." "Senator Daschle brought these issues to the Finance Committee's attention when he submitted his nomination forms and we are confident the committee is going to schedule a hearing for him very soon, and he will be confirmed," it said. Click here to read the full story from the Washington Post. ======= Oh my god. We are doomed. A senator for 20 years didn't know something as basic that a free limo service is taxable. Not only that, the president calls failure to pay an oversight Finally, the Senator is embarrassed. Lets see, I just will avoid paying my taxes for a few years, put it into in an interest bearing account, cut a check to the IRS and right a letter of embarrassment. I should be ok. This guy should be dragged down the street, tarred and feathered marched up the capital in shackles as an example of what happens when a politician betrays the people. If he steals, and is rewarded then the message is; the people are no longer following the rules because of faith in the system they only follow them out of fear. If you are in a position of power or influence there is no fear, so there are no rules.
You should be expecting some reference to Bush/Paulson/Iraq war/911 was a conspiracy/ post any second now
good morning, jackass.... Google "arbusto energy" for some laughs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbusto_Energy In June 1990 Bush sold more than half of his shares in Harken to a Los Angeles broker named Ralph D. Smith. One week after the sale Harken announced an overall loss of $23.2 million triggering an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission into the sale.
Gee maybe they should include hiring more IRS accountants in the stimilus package, doesn't really seem like a lot of the DC crowd feels they need to pay taxes. Hell pay somebody 40K a year and they'll find another DC douchebag that owes at least 40K in taxes.......a-holes.
This Daschle news is shocking to me. All this time I had assume only black democrats were immune from paying taxes, eg Marion Barry, Eleanor Homes Norton, Charley Rangel, William Jefferson, et al. How can Obama continue to embarrass himself like this? Even the Washington Post is clucking. And don;t forget, Daschcle's wife Linda is or was the chief lobbyist for Boeing. I love change.