ABC News and the NYT has learned that the nomination of former Senator Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) to be President Obama's Secretary of Health and Human Services "has hit a traffic snarl on its way through the Senate Finance Committee."
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/...
"The controversy deals with a car and driver lent to Mr. Daschle by a wealthy Democratic friend, a chauffeur service the former Senator used for years without declaring their use on his taxes."
"It remains an open question as to whether this is a "speed bump," as a Democratic Senate ally of Daschle put it, or something more damaging."
http://blogs.abcnews.com/...
During the vetting process to become HHS secretary, Daschle corrected the tax violation, voluntarily paying $101,943 in back taxes plus interest, working with his accountant to amend his tax returns for 2005 through 2007.
(Mr. Daschle reimbursed the IRS $31,462 in taxes and interest for tax year 2005; $35,546 for 2006; and $34,935, a Daschle spokesperson said, adding that Daschle had asked his accountant to look into the tax implications of the car and driver five months before Mr. Obama won the presidency.)
The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., has called his colleagues for a private meeting at 5 p.m. ET Monday to discuss these complications surrounding Daschle's nomination.
The New York Times reports Daschle "filed amended tax returns and paid more than $100,000 in back taxes on Jan. 2."
The news was dumped on a Friday evening in anticipation of a closed door Senate Finance Committee session on his nomination on Monday.
Is this what Bob Woodward was referring to last weekend?
Well...I guess it's fair to speculate that since Tim Geithner received confirmation, given his tax problems, Daschle should be able to achieve the same status. It would be a real shame to lose such a qualified candidate to be head of HHS. Obama staff...please make sure that our nominees have paid their taxes before being nominated, because if it were Republicans who did this, we'd be screaming angry!
What does DKOS think?
UPDATE:
From HuffPo via the Wall Street Journal:
Mr. Daschle also took two vacation trips aboard a $30 million corporate jet belonging to non-profit lender EduCap, which faces a separate probe by the Finance Committee into its tax status.
The issues will dominate a closed-door meeting of the committee called for Monday afternoon, according to committee aides. His confirmation has been held up for weeks as committee staff pours over tax records and business ties of the former Senate majority leader.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...