At last, the new administration is waking up to the need for top officials to live up to the high ethical standards set by the president. It should give Americans new hope that President Obama will live up to his campaign vows to reform government.
Even before the Tom Daschle choice blew up, Mr. Obama had lost some reformist luster. He nominated a lobbyist for deputy secretary of defense after pledging to keep lobbyists out of government, and his pick for Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, was found to have not paid back taxes he clearly realized were due.
So it was a critical mass of trouble when two other nominees for high office were found to have failed to pay taxes until the floodlight of White House appointments shone on them. Withdrawing was the only thing to do.
Former Senator Daschle, who the president had chosen for secretary of health and human services, failed to pay substantial past taxes and earned a sizable income from health-related companies that would be affected by the reforms he was supposed to lead. His withdrawal need not undermine the administration’s push for health care reform. Had he won Senate confirmation, his past financial ties would have provided a handy target for critics of any plans he might put forward.
The other withdrawal involved Nancy Killefer, who was to be deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget and chief performance officer for the federal government, a new position. The extent of her tax problems have not been spelled out. Her brief statement and press reports indicate that she failed to pay unemployment taxes to the District of Columbia for household help — the so-called nanny tax issue.
It may have been a small-bore problem, but the Senate committee that would have had to confirm her was only beginning to look into her background. And it’s hard to imagine how she could have proceeded in a job in which Mr. Obama said she would help “restore the American people’s confidence in their government.”
The primary weapon for a president who really intends to clean up Washington is credibility — and that requires integrity. Mr. Obama showed that he has both of those things in abundance with his refreshingly frank admission that he “screwed up” and his assurance that he had learned from his mistake.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/opinion/04wed2.html?_r=1
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