Obama needs to throw Daschle "Under the Bus" his record is just too Awful..

[KoKo]

Taking Stock Of The Daschle Charges
By Zachary Roth - February 2, 2009, 12:58PM

Tom Daschle's nomination to be Secretary of Health and Human Services has hit a serious snag, in the wake of a string of revelations mostly related to his payment of taxes on income he received as part of his consulting activities since he left the Senate in 2004.

Looking at a range of news reports, there are several different charges out there, each of varying degrees of seriousness. So -- leaving aside the real-world question of which of these charges might be the most politically damaging to Daschle's nomination -- it's worth taking stock of what exactly the former Senate leader stand accused of. And of how, at least initially, might we rate the seriousness of each individual misdeed.

Let's run down the list:


1. The most serious charge -- which comes from a report conducted for the Senate Finance committee, which is handling Daschle's nomination -- is that from 2005 to 2007, he failed to report on his taxes income from the use of a limousine and driver totaling over $255,000, and provided by InterMedia Advisors LLP, a private-equity firm. On January 2, Daschle, having concluded that he owed the money, filed amended returns and paid more than $140,000 in back taxes and interest.

InterMedia, whose advisory board Daschle chairs, was founded in 2005 by Leo Hindery, a politically connected media and telecommunications executive (with an apparent record of embellishing his personal story). Hindery gave at least $42,000 to Mr. Daschle from 1997 to 2004.

Daschle told the committee that he realized last June that the limo service might count as taxable income, and asked his accountant to look into it. A Daschle spokeswoman said the accountant didn't come back to Daschle until late December or early January with a finding that the taxes were owed. Only then did Daschle inform the Obama transition team. "He thought his accountant was taking care of it," the spokeswoman told a reporter.


2. The Finance committee is also probing a second potential tax impropriety stemming from Daschle's relationship with InterMedia. The committee says he failed to report on his 2007 tax return consulting income from the company of $83,333.

But this one appears to be an oversight, if a careless one. According to the committee report, Daschle received that sum per month (or a $1 million a year) from InterMedia under the consulting arrangement. InterMedia left off one monthly payment -- the one for May 2007 -- from the annual statement of income it sent Daschle. The error occurred because the InterMedia staffer normally responsible for reporting such payments was on maternity leave, according to the committee. All the other months were accounted for.


3. The issue that almost certainly has the greatest relevance for Daschle's desired new job as HHS Secretary is his work on behalf of healthcare-industry interests.

In his financial disclosure statement, Daschle reported getting paid more than $390,000 for giving speeches to groups including America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), a trade organization representing health insurers. He also got nearly $100,000 from health-related companies affected by federal regulation, including more than $5000 (again, the exact figure wasn't reported) for giving "policy advice" to the insurer UnitedHealth.


4. The committee is also probing Daschle's ties to Educap -- a student loan company that paid Daschle over $5,000 for "policy advice," according to his financial disclosure report. (The exact amount wasn't disclosed).

The inquiry is focused on whether "travel and entertainment services" given to Daschle by Educap and several related entities should have been reported as income. At issue, it appears, are two trips Daschle took on EduCap's corporate jet, one to the Bahamas, the other to the Middle East, to speak with members of the board of directors of a related organization. On the latter trip, Daschle and his traveling companions met with King Abdullah of Jordan, and Israeli minister Ehud Barack, according to the Daschle spokeswoman.

In addition, Daschle has worked during the last few years for Alston & Bird, the high-powered DC law and lobbying firm, which was registered as a lobbyist for EduCap. Some on the committee have suggested that Daschle should himself have registered as a lobbyist for Educap.

So what should we make of all this?

Individually, each charge -- with the exception, perhaps of the until-recently-unpaid taxes on the InterMedia car and driver -- might be seen as not much more than business as usual for a former Congressional leader who has slipped through Washington's revolving door to offer his contacts and expertise to private interests. But cumulatively, they paint a picture of a Washington insider who, at best, has grown negligent about tracking the various forms of compensation he's receiving.

Perhaps more important, Daschle's coziness with corporate interests, many of whom will have key business before Congress and the Obama administration, could complicate the larger task of reducing the influence of the private sector in Washington.

For instance, there's nothing explicitly nefarious about Daschle's work on behalf of health insurers. But interests like AHIP and UnitedHealth have, by and large, stood in the way of efforts to remove our healthcare system from the grip of private interests, which many see as a prerequisite for real reform. Of course, that likely won't happen without at least neutralizing the opposition of the private insurers -- so perhaps Daschle's ties to those insurers make him ideally suited for the role. But at the very least, it would be nice to know what kind of "policy advice" he gave his corporate clients.
Late Update: One additional angle we might have noted. The Finance committee report also found that, from 2005 to 2007, Daschle overstated the deductions to which he was entitled for charitable contributions. When he filed amended returns, he reduced the deductions by almost $15,000.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/02/taking_stock_of_the_daschle_charges.php

[marylanddem]

1. Absofuckinglutely right. Cut him loose Obama. NOW.

[FLAprogressive]

2. he's ok throwing Dean under the bus but not Daschle?

[Captain Hilts]

5. And Denyce Graves. nt

[KoKo]

13. I can see where CAP told OBAMA that Rahm and Daschle could push through "Health Care" ...No Problem

But, where was the real VETTING? Does our Liberal CAP Project have as many Tax Scofflaws as the folks they PICK? What is GOING ON HERE?

Out here in AMERICA we get prosecuted for the IRS or at the least, flagged if we don't pay a puny $500.00 tax discrepancy.. YET...THOUSANDS for the RICH,FAMOUS AND FORMER CONGRESS OR TREASURY OFFICIALS...all WRITTEN OFF as an "OOP'S"..."SO SORRY!"

This ISN'T THE CHANGE WE CALLED FOR...it's MORE OF THE SAME!

[leftchick]

3. The Daschles: feeding at the Beltway trough

Glenn Greenwald
Sunday Feb. 1, 2009 08:23 EST


http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/02/01/daschle/index.html


(updated below - Update II - Update III)

When Barack Obama announced in early December that he had selected Tom Daschle to be his Secretary of Health and Human Services as well as his "health care policy czar," Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi -- who had spent several months studying the inner workings of the 2006 Congress in order to profile its limitless corruption -- wrote the following reaction on his blog:

I know several reporters who are either officially or unofficially on "Whore Factor" duty, watching the rapidly kaleidoscoping transition picture and keeping track of the number of known whores and ghouls who for some reason have been invited to befoul the atmosphere of the next administration.

Obviously there has been some dire news on that front already. When Obama picked Tom Daschle to be the HHS Secretary, I nearly shit my pants. In Washington there are whores and there are whores, and then there is Tom Daschle. Tom Daschle would suck off a corpse for a cheeseburger. True, he is probably only the second-biggest whore for the health care industry in American politics — the biggest being doctor/cat-torturer Bill Frist, whose visit to South Dakota on behalf of John Thune in 2004 was one of the factors in ending Daschle's tenure in the Senate.

But in picking Daschle — who as an adviser to the K Street law firm Alston and Bird has spent the last four years burning up the sheets with the nation's fattest insurance and pharmaceutical interests — Obama is essentially announcing that he has no intention of seriously reforming the health care industry. . . .

Regarding Daschle, remember, we're talking about a guy who not only was a consultant for one of the top health-care law firms in the country, but a board member of the Mayo Clinic (a major recipient of NIH grants) and the husband of one of America's biggest defense lobbyists — wife Linda Hall lobbies for Lockheed-Martin and Boeing. Does anyone really think that this person is going to come up with a health care proposal that in any way cuts into the profits of the major health care companies?

[KoKo]

14. An excellent article by Greenwald...I hope DU'ers on this thread will take time to read..

because it seems Daschle and Wife #2...feel they are part of the ENTITLED in AMERICA!

I sort of thought our CONSTITUTION made us (Suffering from their policies out here in America) the ones who were THE ENTITLED! I guess I just got that one wrong from elementary school on...:eyes:

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. If Daschle is smart he'll roll under the bus by himself.

It would be the honorable thing to do.

[AndyA]

6. Obama should not soil his administration with this man.

Cut him loose, Barack. Find someone better. You can only bring change by being different. This is politics as usual in Washington!

[dynasaw]

7. Agreed

after all the promises of heading an honest, responsible administration Obama loses a great deal of credibility if Daschle is allowed to move toward confirmation. The White House needs to pull him in an advise him to step down.

[RC]

8. Yeah, but, but, but...

Obama is a god, he can do no wrong. Just ask his worshipers.

[sybylla]

9. What I can't figure out is why it's taking so long

Daschle should have pulled his nomination the minute the problem surfaced.

“A walk down the path of history is crunchy with the crispy corpses of those who pooh-poohed or ignored the clown car of ridicule when it pulled-up to the curb. Who would have thought such a tiny car could contain so many infectious and revolutionary guffaws? Satires, parodies, blue humor, pants to the ground ass-wavings, tea-dumping, Modest Proposal submitting, 7 dirty word spewing, flag burning, frankly impolite, just plain rude and improper expressions of ridicule have either ignited reform, fanned the flames or kicked the corpse to make sure it was dead.” Stephen Jones

[4 t 4]

11. I have nothing against TD

but move on he's not worth all this

[KoKo]

12. He's too "Wired In" and "Too Important" to GO DOWN...that's what it seems to be...

Sad...this isn't the "Change." Daschle was always "Status Quo!" When Repug, Jim Jeffords switched from the RW he gave Daschle all the "FIRE POWER" he needed in the Senate. Daschle could have picked off a few of Bush II's most aggregious appointments with the Majority that Jeffords gave him. But, Daschle, (like his hand-picked sychophant, Harry Reid) GAVE THE REPUGS THE WHOLE STORE! EVERY PIECE OF CANDY belonged to the REPUGS! Was Daschle so frightened by his ANTHRAX POWDER LETTER? It seems so many of our DEM LEADERS got that "stuff" after "9/11" and COWERED IN BUNKERS...but the REWARD WAS...MONEY...MONEY...MONEY.

DASCHLE NEEDS TO GO DOWN...or else the DEM PARTY HAS NO PRINCIPLES LEFT AT ALL!!!!

[G_j]

10. bad news

but I guess he is very close to Obama (which is a bit scary, IMO)

[GCP]

15. I've always disliked the guy

He was too soft on the pukes when he was majority leader, and he and his wife have made tons of money lobbying for the pharmaceutical and airline industries. Now we find he evades taxes, just like a good repuke. Throw him under the bus and move on, Obama.
He is irredeemably tainted.

[nichomachus]

16. Didn't you get the message?

There is no more room under the bus. Obama is now researching other places to throw people -- he will probably decide right after he does away with DADT and DOMA.

[KoKo]

17. To be fair to Obama.....I don't think he got what the "Rest of us Knew" that's been going down

for a few decades... And, I understand him being young and wanting to "Dance with them that Brung Him to the Dance." BUT...BUT...he needs to nip some folks off NOW...before he get's mired down like both Carter and Clinton did. It's a hard deal for him. I am more harsh about our Dem Party that allowed him to make some foolish choices that play right into the Repugs "Right Hands." :-( Our party should have insulated him...because that's what Parties and Organizations DO!

[natrat]

19. no, this guy is not stupid and is no fdr

"Why are the Feds Bailing Out the Highway Privatization Industry?" where the author's link to the original prompted me to ask for it to be posted here at Open Left. - promoted by Paul Rosenberg)

The privatization of transportation infrastructure was supposed to be a Bush administration goal, but based on my (LittleSis-powered) review of Obama's transition team, it is a major priority of the new administration, as well.

All three of the Obama transition team leads charged with reviewing the Department of Transportation are privatization advocates. Not only that, but their private sector activities suggest that they stand to profit substantially from further privatization of the nation's transportation infrastructure (highways, bridges, tunnels, and so on).
kevinc :: Privatization advocates led Obama transportation review effort
On Thursday I profiled Mort Downey, a well-regarded transportation expert, as a "quiet name" - an influential decisionmaker who operates behind the scenes, out of the public spotlight. Downey's work in the for-profit world - as president and now chairman of PB Consult, a division of engineering giant Parsons Brinckerhoff - has established him as a cheerleader for infrastructure privatization. His decades of work in the public sector give him that much more cred as an industry spokesperson.

The two other leads on the DoT review team were Jane Garvey, former FAA chief, and Michael Huerta, a former DoT official.

http://openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11293

and more sleazy corporatism :


Still Listening to the Same People Who Brought Us the Shitpile


Earlier this week, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner met with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila C. Bair and Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan to discuss the plan, a source said. They met again yesterday. Administration officials have also begun to talk to Wall Street executives to receive input on how the government might relieve banks of troubled assets, the source added.

I'm not saying that the administration shouldn't talk to Wall Street at all. But I guess I'm just wondering whether the administration is also consulting with the people who were warning us about the oncoming economic shitpile, and not just meeting with those who created the shitpile. It's an important question to ask - after all, the Post reports that the administration is now saying it may push new bailouts that make sure to "safeguard existing shareholders." And, of course, this is the same administration that just hired Goldman Sachs' lobbyist to be the chief of staff of the federal department charged with overseeing the financial system.

http://openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11290

[KoKo]

20. I understand what you say...but, if you read my post...I do NOT THINK Obama is STUPID...

and while I understand what you say...my post stands ALONE as My own Criticism. And, I believe it to be fair...

[Name removed]

18. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[KoKo]

21. This post is about "Activist, Involved, Dems who are Upset...

and if your post is deleted it won't be by this poster. I think what you say is fair...but, remember that Repugs are very good with McCorporate Media Help in covering up their OWN DIRTY DEEDS. That we Dems on the Left want to make our own Dems CLEANER should be applauded. Don't you think?