Daschle and Killefer Withdraw Their Nominations
Far be it for me to advocate anything to do with the travesty of taxation that takes place in this country right now, but it sure is becoming clear why most Democrats have no problem with tax increases.
Tom Daschle, under increasing fire for his tax problems (i.e. not paying them) has reportedly withdrawn his name from consideration for HHS Secretary. Take a deep breath America – that’s good news.
Its early so it isn’t clear if he was warned off by Senate colleagues, asked to do so by the Obama administration (although that seems less likely given Obama’s endorsement yesterday) or had a fit of ethical conscience and did it himself. Whatever the reason, I’m happy about it.
Oh, and another Obama appointee has also withdrawn from consideration with tax problems:
Nancy Killefer, the management consultant and former Treasury official who had been picked by President Obama to serve as the country’s chief performance officer, has withdrawn from consideration for the post, White House officials confirmed this morning.
In a two-paragraph resignation letter, Killefer indicated that controversy over failure to pay taxes by two other high-profile nominees of Obama’s had convinced her to decline the new president’s request to join his administration. Shortly after her appointment, the Associated Press reported that Killefer had a tax lien placed on her house by the D.C. government because she had not paid unemployment taxes for her household help.
Killefer at least had the good grace to step aside before it got to the Daschle stage.
That Obama administration vetting process? Awesome, no?
Hope and change.
~McQ
[HT: Scott Jacobs]
Boy, this makes McCain’s vetting of Palin stellar.
So he’s lost 3 of his nominees before they ever came up for a vote so far, and Hillary and Geithner had embarassing details.
His endorsed pork bill is going to spark a trade war.
This guy isn’t ready for prime time. It’s sad at this stage. Amatuer hour comes to the White House.
You think he has a newfound appreciation for W all of a sudden? Think he’s finding out the hard way that leading is much harder than making pretty but empty campaign speeches?
It was pretty obvious during the election season that he wasn’t ready for Prime Time. Every rookie mistake being made here was predictable: improper vetting, impractical campaign promises, too much reliance on “experience” (read former D administration members).
I am still scratching my head trying to figure out just how Barry-O won this thing.
CR – I am still scratching my head trying to figure out just how Barry-O won this thing.
It was a perfect storm, very similar to the circumstances that led to Jimmuh winding up in the Oval Office:
1. Unpopular war
2. President with ethical problems (real in Nixon’s case; trumped up and imaginary in Bush’s case)
3. Poor economy
4. Media collusion
5. Lousy GOP candidate
Given these circumstances, how could TAO NOT have won?
Guess he was just expecting the hands-off approach to extend to his nominees.
Shows poor judgement, I’d say.
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Wow – what a couple of weeks this has been. When does it officially get tabbed as a train wreck?
You keep using those words… I do not think they mean what you think they mean…
I am really confused. What does the “Chief Performance Officer” do? Is that like Michelle’s made-up job with the hospital? You know — the one she took after she didn’t make partner?
So who in the obama administration doesn’t owe the tax man? Instead of continuing the debate on the current tax payer funded stimulus plan they should just have all the senators, congressmen/women, cabinet members, czars, etc bring in their tax returns for the last 3 years and allow the IRS to perform a line by line audit. Then they fund their own stimulus package.
BO’s going to be scraping the bottom of a barrel soon–wait, I think I’ve seen this episode before!
“It’s 3AM and there’s a telephone ringing . . . but this time it’s in Janet Reno’s house . . .”