Tom Daschle, Survivor
At the moment, you have to think Tom Daschle is going to pull this out. It's possible that his failure to pay taxes on a limo rides and other benefits he accrued from a New York financier may yet do in his nomination to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. But several things have turned Daschle's way today.
First, he apologized which is a necessary but not sufficent precondition to surviving these things. Second, Max Baucus, the chair of the Senate Finance Committee which has jurisdiction over Daschle's nomination, came out for him despite a history of tension between the two. Third, Obama stood by Daschle--a sentiment echoed by Robert Gibbs at his press conference although Gibbs used the slightly miffed phrase, "a report we heard this weekend," about the Daschle contretemps. Fourth: Silence. The blogs are not on fire--yes, there's Greenwald, I know--but there's not pitchfork mob calling for his head of the size and scope usually needed to kill a nomination. The optics of the thing are terrible but it's not deadly
That said, I'm told that White House Congressional liasion Phil Schiliro, who briefly worked for Daschle before rejoining the staff of Rep. Henry Waxman, as well as the president and Joe Biden are working the phones for Daschle. Obviously, in a situation like this that's fluid, things can change. If more revelations about Daschle come out or there's a big populist backlash against it, then that's going to change the dynamic and put pressure on Daschle to withdraw.
I agree with Josh that firing Daschle is something that would be very hard for Obama to do given the mentoring role that Daschle played in his career. If things go south, I think it's much more likely Daschle would pull the plug on his own nomination. It's impossible, I think, to overstate how close Obama and Daschle are. They only go back five years, but they are tight. Pete Rouse, Daschle's chief of staff, became Obama's and Daschle was a key mentor for Obama in the ways of the senate. His support also boosted Obama when Hillary was far ahead. It's telling that when Obama campaigned in South Dakota he had the state apparatus behind him including Tim Johnson and Stephanier Herseth Sandlin and operatives like Steve Hildebrand.
The larger question of whether Daschle is the right guy for the job? Well, you could say that if you're not able to keep track of your taxes you shouldn't run the largest--in terms of money--cabinet agency. But without being snarky you have to wonder if Daschle's political judgement is good enough to be the pointman on health care. His short-lived tenure as majority leader included the decision to draw the line in the sand with Republicans, not over the war or tax cuts, but over union work rules for the Department of Homeland Security. Is he the best person to wage the health care fight? I'm not so sure but apparently Obama is for now.
Nice account from Ambinder about what we know now.
Josh
Matt
Eric
Obama dumped Samatha Power over a stray comment. He can't dump Senator sleaze over free limo rides? Weak.
The healthcare debate is going to be the toughest challenge the Obama admin faces, and he needs someone with a sterling reputation, not a master of the D.C. Sleaze orgy who rides around in corporate limos, for fuck sake.
February 2, 2009 3:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe you don't know this but Power--and her husband--are in the Obama administration. Power took one for the team publicly but she continued to advise him behind the scenes.
February 2, 2009 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
...but she's not the HHS Secretary, and this is starting to look bad. Greenwald's piece has convinced me - this guy's gotta go. Plus I hadn't done my homework...didn't realize he was one of those Gingrich/McCain wife under the bus tossers, while at the same time his sanctimonious crap on gay marriage should be stuffed back down his throat. Not merely a disappointment - a dick.
February 2, 2009 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Samantha Power is an international human rights activist and scholar. Please tell me how that qualifies her for HHS?
Daschle was divorced in 1982. He married Linda in 1984 and they've been married for 25 years. Please explain how this is anything like Newt with his four wives and McCain dumping his disabled, long-suffering wife for a young, rich one.
Also, we're Democrats. Where the hell do we get off freaking out over somebody's "family values?"
February 2, 2009 4:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
No one said power should be HHS secretary, learn to read. The point is the treatment of the two people. Power was gone after a day or two, and Daschle is sticking around, despite the fact that Daschle has a much more important roll to fill and being tainted and corrupt in his position then being seen as a little snarky on the campaign trail.
February 2, 2009 5:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Power isn't gone, chief. And the issues were totally different and required a different response. Perhaps you should learn to read.
February 2, 2009 5:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Speaking of "family values", dumping your wife for a beauty queen is hardly an exemplar of "feminist values" either.
February 2, 2009 5:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
You sound like a fucking republican. Daschle is divorced and married to his second wife for 25 years. Big fucking deal. Are you railing against Ted Kennedy or John Kerry?
I don't give a shit about the "family values." And you wouldn't either if you weren't trying to make a case against Daschle.
February 2, 2009 6:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bite me.
(1) What makes you think I'm suggesting anything about Powers as HHS secretary? Try remedial reading. What I'm saying is that there's a difference between her having been brought back into the Obama fold in some obscure role and Daschle's being supported for something of the stature and visibility of HHS secretary, under the circumstances.
(2) Daschle, Gingrich, McCain - they all tossed over less preferred wives for trophy wives. Why is that correlation difficult to fathom? Frankly I don't care if they're married to female baboons - I simply don't need pontificating about the sanctimony of heterosexual marriage from people who treat their own opportunistically.
(3) And "we're democrats"? Maybe not. I may be progressive but I'm not per se a democrat. But since you ask, let me tell you exactly "where the hell" I express my opinion about the gay marriage issue - which, as far as I'm concerned doesn't constitute "freaking out about family values" (no genuine democrat or progressive should willingly use that loathsome, concocted term, in any case). I'm glad Obama's president, and I know that in the current political circumstances he had to at least pay lip service to opposition to gay marriage, but I don't think one can be genuinely progressive without supporting it. I hope we can evolve past that, and I'm hopeful he'll eventually have the political will to get a spine about it, but I give no quarter to assholes like Daschle whose moral superficiality and hypocrisy is such that he can go trophy-wife when he cares to, opportunistically, and then hold forth about the sanctimony of heterosexual marriage.
February 2, 2009 5:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bite yourself. Your neck seems to be streched out long enough over this shit.
My use of the term "family values" was meant to disparage it. You have no idea what happened with Daschle and his first wife so stop with the judgemental bullshit.
I have no idea what this has to do with gay marriage. I assume Daschle voted for DOMA. Too bad but that makes him one of many Democrats who voted for that piece of shit 12 years ago. Just like the many who supported DADT. People change and grow. Even Senators. Many who supported those bills no longer do so.
This is a debate about Daschle as HHS secretary. Throwing in stuff about his 25 year-old divorce and positions on gay marriage makes you sound like a wing nut.
February 2, 2009 6:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'll tell you exactly what this has to do with gay marriage. Daschle not only supported DOMA but strutted his sanctimonious bullshit about it all over the media. I wasn't in the room with him and his wives, but it walks like a fucking duck to me...and like I said, I don't care who he's married to, but when you demonstrate the appearances of trophy wife opportunism I don't want to hear his ignorant BS about gay marriage.
What else does it have to do with it? His hypocrisy in one area translates into dishonesty in other areas (and he's already got a variety of baggage), and Obama doesn't need him waved like a red cape as an example of backsliding on the bar he's set as to who can serve in his administration. I'm no fan of Greenwald, but his piece is pretty compelling.
February 2, 2009 7:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Opposing a cabinet nominee in 2009 because they divorced in 1982, married a pretty woman in 1984 and opposed gay marriage in 1998?
Makes perfect sense to me. Nothing like staying focused on the issues. LOL!
February 2, 2009 8:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
He's not the best person for this in my estimate, given his speaking fees from the very same industry that he's supposed to reform. This taints his credibility from my perspective to shepherd through actual health care reform.
And there IS a backlash against Daschle on Dailykos, Openleft, MyDD, and other blogs.
February 2, 2009 3:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Daily Kos is up in arms because they want Howard Dean in his spot. I think it's safe to assume that if Daschle was removed, that Dean wouldn't be Obama's next in line.
Kossacks will also rally against anybody they think could be replaced by Wesley Clark.
February 2, 2009 4:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
But his stated policy positions are vastly different from the policy positions of the folks who agreed to pay him to give speeches.
To assume that Daschle is "compromised" requires you to believe that people only pay from speeches from people with whom they agree. That Daschle is somehow loyal to the health care industry. That Daschle's (as well as Obama's) own publicly stated positions on reform contradicts the interests of those who do not want their share of the pie reduced in any way. That Obama has delegated choices over health care policy to Daschle instead of hiring him to get reform bill that Obama agrees with through Congress. It's all so childish and stupid. But I guess this is the game we are so used to playing. Look where it has gotten us so far.
February 2, 2009 4:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
I guess you didn't watch the video of Daschle at one of those health insurance meetings.
February 2, 2009 5:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Link please.
The Daschle as trojan horse theory is preposterous. Obama hires him to pass his health care reform, but he's really working as a double agent on behalf of the insurance companies and big pharma. Ok. right.
This entire controversy is an exercise in missing the forest for the trees which is politics as usual.
February 2, 2009 5:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'd like to see that video, too. I want to see Daschle taking a strap-on from the insurance industry.
February 2, 2009 5:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think Daschle is about the worst possible choice for HHS, and not just because he's a sleazebag. In his leadership position in the Senate, he was completely ineffectual and let the Bushies run all over him. The Republicans aren't going to fight his nomination very hard because they know they can shove him around and he won't shove back.
I don't think much of Obama's much-vaunted judgment, in this particular case.
February 2, 2009 3:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, but who cares what you think. It's his cabinet.
February 2, 2009 7:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
>>And there IS a backlash against Daschle on Dailykos, Openleft, MyDD, and other blogs>>
Having a backlash from these folks is like Chris Matthews spitting on his guests: so par for the course as to be irrelevant.
February 2, 2009 3:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, it can be worn as a badge of honor in some respects.
February 2, 2009 3:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm an unabashed liberal but I really can't stand Greenwald and Kos, especially Kos. Those guys are the biggest whiners on earth. I'm like "who the hell pissed in your corn flakes?"
They offer no solutions, just one angry diatribe after another. And Kos? That guy is so unrealistic. If we listened to him, Dems would still be in the political wilderness.
These folks have their purity but they can't point to one tangible election success. They haven't figured out that, in order to win, you have to be *for* something; not just *against* everything.
Maybe if Kos would stop pretending he's straight and get him a nice boyfriend, he'd be a lot happier.
February 2, 2009 3:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
All true. You can't just play to 10% or so of the population and expect to win elections. You have to be for solutions, not just hurling bombs.
I actually don't pay attention to either of them anymore.
February 2, 2009 4:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
First of all, lumping Greenwald and Kos into the same boat is unfair to Kos. Disagree with Kos' positions all you want, but he puts his money where his mouth is, by actively promoting and collecting campaign donations for particular candidates.
Greenwald lobs grenades but doesn't do any actual organizing.
And I also think a distinction needs to be made between Kos and the commenters and diarists at Kos. He's significantly more pragmatic than many of them, and the phrase "More and better Democrats" isn't a bad one as a guideline.
February 2, 2009 4:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'll be frank, I stopped paying attention to kos a long time ago. I'll take your word for it.
February 2, 2009 4:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
What do you mean "no electoral success"? It seems like the democrats have had a lot of successes over the past few years. Two major Kos Backed candidates were Jim Webb and John Tester, and there's Donna Edwards as well. Also a minor senate candidate in '04 named Barack Obama.
But seriously, Kos has historically backed democrats in general, and democrats in general have done well, so It's not clear what you mean when you say they haven't won anything.
February 2, 2009 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
You cannot possibly believe for a minute that kos saying that he was for webb and tester had anything in a million years to do with them winning? Webb and tester are about as far from kos politically as any other dem in the senate.
I think that the point was that being an uber-leftist bomb thrower does not win you elections, especially in the south, midwest and mountain west. That was the point.
February 2, 2009 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Really? Kos had nothing to do with Webb and Tester?
So all the fundraising and appeals to contributers had absolutely nothing to do with Tester and Webb's success? Really?
Disagree with Kos all you want, but to be so dismissive of his contributions to getting more and better Democrats elected seems, well, kinda "unhinged".
February 2, 2009 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Like I said above, I really don't pay attention to kos. Also, politically, I can't imagine kos's endorsement assisting webb and tester at all. I am unfamiliar with the fundraising for webb and tester, so I will take your word for it. The point was that politically webb and tester are far right of kos from what I can tell.
February 2, 2009 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
And Kos recognized that at the time (the far right part).
His "endorsement", such that it was, introduced to candidates to an audience who would otherwise not have known about them. An audience with the means to contribute financial support. I think that's nothing to sneeze at. And while I think some of the commenters and diarists are over the top, I don't agree that Kos should be tarred with the same brush.
February 2, 2009 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
By the way, this must be the day for it. I'm unhinged and highly ignorant. I can't wait for someone to hurl the clinton-hater mantra at me as well and make it a trifecta.
February 2, 2009 4:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
I put it in quotes, Michael, for a reason. I don't think you're unhinged at all. Besides, you might owe me dinner. I'm not going to alienate a provider of free food!
: )
February 2, 2009 4:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm with you there on dinner. I still see a final 50% tally in the house. Call me an optimist, but I get that feeling the way this is playing out. We'll see.
I really want to see obama crush the republican party as we know it, so that we get two rational parties arguing for the benefit of the country. I actually see him accomplishing that the way he is "playing" politics.
February 2, 2009 4:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Right there with you, particularly on the "crush the Republican party" part.
Try as I do, I simply cannot give Republicans any credence about any issue at this point, and a not insignificant part of me wants Democrats and Obama to just tell them, figuratively, of course, to go shove it.
Which is why I'll never be a politician, obviously.
February 2, 2009 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Certanly you can say that Kos wasn't out there promoting Webb and Tester, but you'd have to be an idiot to do so. Webb and Tester were all over dailykos in the runup to the 2006 elections and they raised tons of money for those two campaigns. It's not Kos's fault you wern't paying attention have no idea what Kos was about. Webb even thanked the Netroots and called himself a "Netroots candidate"
Of course, what really got Webb elected was George Allan and his idiotic racist mouth, but the netroots were behind Webb and got him into a position to execute.
February 2, 2009 6:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
1. I didn't say that kos wasn't promoting webb or tester to get the dem majority in the senate.
2. In my opinion, kos promoting webb and tester was irrelevant and in fact in virginia, as well as montana, would not be particularly helpful.
3. I guess I am an idiot. I was expecting clinton-hater, but I still got a trifecta.
4. I actually think that webb got elected based on his merits. Allen being a buffoon certainly helped, but I believe that webb still probably would have won based on the merits.
February 2, 2009 6:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
By the way, how much money did kos raise for webb and tester? Just curious.
February 2, 2009 6:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
>>What do you mean "no electoral success?>
I mean the success of a candidate he backed from the beginning, a candidate he launched. Trying to take credit for Webb and Tester and Obama is a joke! They were not involved in the beginning of those campaigns and they jumped in to support them when they were 1 on 1 against the repubs.
Look at Ned Lamont, Darcy Bruner and Howard Dean. They were netroot (Kos) candidates and flamed out. It's kinda hard to organize and get the ground game together when you spend your time ranting online.
February 2, 2009 5:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Netroots supported Tester in the primaries. I don't know about Webb. Darcy Bruner came pretty close to winning and Let's not forget about Donna Edwards, who unseated a sitting blue dog democrat, Al Wynn.
February 2, 2009 6:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
What the hell does Kos' sexual orientation have to do with anything? Were you just throwing in a gratuitous homophobic comment to spice up your post? I actually agree with most of what you said, but that was seriously a bit over the line.
February 2, 2009 4:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hold on. What did I say that was homophobic? I said Kos should get a boyfriend. What's homophobic about that?
FYI, I don't think there's a damn thing wrong with being gay. I think there's something wrong with pretending you're not. A deaf, dumb and blind man can see the ridiculousness of Kos pretending he's straight. Who next? Andre Tally?
February 2, 2009 5:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
You have no business using "and everyone knows he is really a fag ..." as an additional insult to Kos. Where does using sexuality as insult come from in your little mind? Personal repression? I am sure that it is an OK thing to say in your redneck part of North Carolina but in the civilized parts of America you are considered quite an asshole for throwing gay bashing into discussion of a subject that has nothing to do with sex. It tells everyone a lot more about you personally than you might want them to know.
February 2, 2009 6:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Saying someone is gay is "gay bashing"? Maybe to you, asshole since you used the nasty word for gay. Who's the ignorant asshole?
Just because Kos wants to pretend he's straight doesn't mean I have to pretend to believe him. Just like I don't buy that Bob Barr is white. He's a black man passing for white. Does saying that make me a bigot?
Of all the people who have admonished me for saying Kos is gay, not a single person has said he's not. Hmmmmmm.
February 2, 2009 6:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Again and again my little bigot friend why do you take pride in PROVING Kos is gay and therefore using that to insult him??? You said he was gay as the final petty little school girl insult in your ongoing tirade against him.
When you are discussing someone's politics and you suddenly dive into "oh yeah and he's GAY!" that is bigotry plain and clear. Maybe in your redneck world that still hasn't sunk in but the rest of us think you are juvenile, foulmouthed, and hateful.
February 2, 2009 6:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Glad you know what "the rest" think. As if it matters.
Kos' problem isn't that he's gay; it's that he's pretending he straight. Thus, his constant state of pissed-offness. I sympathize with the guy. If I had to pretend I liked sleeping with women, I'd be pretty grouchy!
February 2, 2009 7:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
And maybe if your "boyfriend" took care of your needs, you wouldn't offer such bitchy speculation about Markos Moulitas' sexual orientation. Look, I'm no fan of Kos, but such matters are inherently personal, and your comment was way over the line.
Everyone deserves a personal zone of privacy, into which nobody should enter without prior personal invitation. How Moulitas conducts his personal life and affairs outside the office is strictly his concern, and most certainly none of yours or mine -- and I, for one, prefer to keep it that way.
February 2, 2009 6:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Question: Do you honestly believe Kos is straight?
Another question: If you're so offended by people invading someone's personal life, why aren't you attacking the people for railing about Daschle's divorce?
Unlike the sanctimonious folks who lambast Daschle for being divorced, I am not the least bit judgemental about Kos being gay. It's simply a statement of what I believe.
The people who are freaking out because I said he's gay must think there's some shame in being gay.
February 2, 2009 6:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
You are the most full of shit person on this site. You are STILL trying to use sexuality as an insult, STILL trying to have us believe that bringing it up while trying to run the guy down was just some Turrets moment, STILL insisting that since we cannot prove he is not gay we are all intolerant of YOU ....... just shut up while you are ahead .... or just shut up completely.
February 2, 2009 7:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Kos is married. I think Kos is gay. I think Kos would be happier and less whiny if he stopped pretending.
You, on the other hand, are a pathetic peevish little turd who needs to believe that everyone hates gays so you'll can get a woodie and revel in your imagined victimhood. B-O-R-I-N-G.
February 2, 2009 7:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
you really should get a hobby.
February 2, 2009 8:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've got one. Hanging out here with nutters and whiners. It's sooooo much fun, especially when I get posters like Hollywood to soil himself.
February 2, 2009 8:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Daschle is damaged goods at this point, and even if his former Senate colleagues hop on the comity bandwagon and confirm him, he's going to be significantly neutered by these revelations.
Any proposal he puts forth will be greeted with "How can you trust what he's saying, given his background"?
February 2, 2009 4:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Co-sign.
February 2, 2009 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Plus he becomes ammunition for those who'd say Obama's abdicating on his principles.
February 2, 2009 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Very good point. At a certain point he's a liability for Obama.
February 2, 2009 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm of two minds on this one--in the rarefied atmosphere of privilege in D.C., I can really understand that he probably just signed what his accountant gave him & thought the loan of an unused car and driver was just fine. But the overall associations really decrease his credibility, and following on other "exceptions" is really going to hurt with the "wait and see" folks out there who are watching to see if Obama is for real. Is there a political virgin out there who can do the job? I hate to think this is the best we can get, but fear that that may be true. No one talks about the amount of corruption in the health care system--will Daschle even be sensitive to it or will he have a fine tuned instinct for rooting it out? But I sure wish he'd withdraw from consideration.
February 2, 2009 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
The red glasses have to go!
February 2, 2009 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
> It's telling that when Obama campaigned in
> South Dakota he had the state apparatus behind
> him including Tim Johnson and Stephanier
> Herseth Sandlin and operatives like Steve
> Hildebrand.
...and he still lost.
February 2, 2009 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
daschle's support for the war guaranteed there would be a lot of senate dems behind it. screw him and his lobbyist wife. i haven't read kos in years, but greenwald's right.
February 2, 2009 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yep. No one who voted for the war should be in the administration. There goes Rahm, Daschle, Biden, Clinton. Screw them!
February 2, 2009 5:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
no, daschle's support for the war is just an indication of his "leadership" in the senate. what i think is troublesome are his connections to the pharma industry.
February 2, 2009 8:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gotta love Washington based political scribes like Cooper. Neither witty nor a serious intellectual, he feels the need to patronize Greenwald, who is at least the former.
I love how much these smug blood suckers hate greenwald because he has principle. But more than that, they hate him because he does his homework, so to speak, and doesnt engage in issues at the superficial level.
Can Matt Cooper please leave TPM and go back to writing paeans about Christopher Hitchens, please.
February 2, 2009 4:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good grief, folks! Matt is 120% correct on this one. Reread your history with the Clinton administration; as soon as they (the Clintons) accepted a "problem" with a nomination, the piranhas started to attack and kept it up for two terms.
Obama knows this and will not be withdrawing this nomination unless a LOT more damaging stuff shows up. And it won't.
February 2, 2009 5:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, I don't think the fact that the clintons withdrew a nomination caused the piranhas to attack or started the attack. There was a whole dump truck load of garbage for the piranhas to feed on and the clintons kept on shoveling stuff into the dump truck during the course of their administration. I really don't think that it had anything to do with withdrawing nominations per se.
February 2, 2009 5:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
My point is that this is the same game plan. The Clintons blinked and it was all over. The Clintons dragged their feet on sharing a whole swath of information which fed the rumor mills and helped the GOP undercut them. The GOP went after their nominations and the Clintons blinked--as they did on gays in the military with a halfway measure that satisfied no one.
Obama will not blink on this. And I suspect the Clintons are well aware of the game plan and how to counter it.
February 2, 2009 6:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's true. Even if Obama wanted to cave on Daschle (which he doesn't) he can't because it would signal that he's weak and will fold in the face of tough sledding.
In two weeks, nobody will remember this tax flap.
February 2, 2009 5:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think so. The Republicans are already using it to hammer the administration. It's become a usable talking point.
February 2, 2009 5:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ooooh, the Republicans are using a "talking point." Let's all run and hide from those vicious "talking points." And while we're hiding, let's hide because the republicans are using a talking point against the stimulus, too.
Whenever the republicans use a talking point, we should cave: pals around with terrorists; the most liberal senator; redistribute the wealth.
February 2, 2009 5:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, yeah. When you just give away ammunition like this then you need to be worried about it. People are uncomfortable with this for a reason. Daschle isn't the first blunder.
February 2, 2009 5:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Grow a pair. You'll like the way they feel in your silk boxers.
February 2, 2009 5:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Classy.
February 2, 2009 5:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
What is your goal? To prevent the GOP from hammering on anything? They are the opposition party--they exist to hammer. This is politics and not a pillow fight or a NERF battle.
Let them hammer. There is no conceivable reason for the Dems to hang a 30-year public servant from the castle gate just to please the GOP. It is NOT going to happen.
February 2, 2009 6:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Co-sign!
February 2, 2009 6:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm sorry, but I wouldn't trust Tom Daschle to mix a pitcher of margaritas without shorting us on the tequila and triple sec. The former Senate majority leader's willful failure to pay a six-figure amount in income taxes is indeed a very big deal. Why would we want him anywhere near the health care reform effort? The guy's overall political track record in D.C. clearly suggests that with regards to health care, we'd either get shortchanged or sold out.
President Obama needs to rid himself of this oily little bird, and put someone in charge of health care reform who has an actual and documented record of accomplishment -- someone like Gov. Howard Dean, M.D., or perhaps Dr. Jack Lewin, who's currently CEO of the American College of Cardiology.
With regards to the latter, Dr. Lewin served for 11 years as President / CEO of of the California Medical Asociation, and for eight years prior to that he was was the Director of the Hawaii Department of Health. He has been at the forefront of the health care reform movement for nearly three decades, and was instrumental in Hawaii's adoption of universal health care coverage in the late '70s and early '80s, which has since served as the model for all other reform efforts undertaken by various states.
Additionally, Dr. Lewin was also the founder and first Director of the Navajo Nation Department of Health, serving the health care needs of America's largest Indian tribe, whose territory streches across eastern Arizona, western New Mexico and southern Utah.
I can understand and appreciate Howard Dean's limitations with regards to his rather pugnacious personality, and am fully cognizant of the fact that his relationship with Obama WH Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is considered prickly at best.
In that regard, I might urge people who couldn't accept Dean to look to Dr. Jack Lewin as a possible replacement for the ermine-like Mr. Daschle.
February 2, 2009 5:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
We all laughed at and derided the McCain campaign for their slip-shod non-vetting of Sarah Palin.
Is it fair to ask who is doing the vetting in the Obama administration? Because right now they should be looking for a new job.
February 2, 2009 5:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now, why should they be looking for a job?
In Geithner's case, they unearthed the tax situation. In Daschle's situation, there was no way to know about the back taxes because Daschle had never been audited or (at the time) assessed for back taxes and he did not disclose that there might be a problem.
Do you recommended that they waterboard each potential appointee . . . just in case they might be hiding somethng?
February 2, 2009 5:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Both Geithner and Daschle's situations were discovered very shortly after their nominations were announced. Are you trying to say that mistakes weren't made?
February 2, 2009 5:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wrong. Geither's tax problem was discovered (by the vetters) back in NOVEMBER . . . before he was announced. Obama told the senators about it then but it didn't go public until January. Obama felt that Geithner was worth the hassle.
There was no way they would have known about Daschle's problem if he didn't tell them since there was no paper trail on it.
And not finding out about some yet to be discovered IRS problem is not the same as not knowing your veep's position on the bridge to nowhere and that she was mired in an ethics investigation.
February 2, 2009 5:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Geithner was hiding his little "tax problem" until the statute of limitations was over and he would have gotten away with it. It was not just discovered and it was not an innocent mistake. But of course everyone knows Tim is gay and should just get a boyfriend and that would make him happy, ... right FreeRider???
February 2, 2009 6:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're stupid. This isn't about what Geithner hid from the IRS. This is about whether or not the vetting uncovered it or not. It did.
When I want to mention someone's sexuality, I'll do it. Just like I did with Kos.
February 2, 2009 6:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
You mentioned Kos's sexuality as an INSULT! Everyone here gets that connection loud and clear despite your "what me homophobic?" whining and pleading.
You are a snot nosed punk ass little bigot ..... whether you know it or not. Maybe when you come to grips with your own sexuality you will quit making all your own insecurities a topic for discussion with the rest of us.
February 2, 2009 6:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
What's the matter, puddin'? Why are you so over wrought? Can't get laid?
You know nothing about me. Being called a bigot by you is like being called short by a dwarf!
February 2, 2009 6:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
The NEW good old boys have taken over....
And "WE THE PEOPLE" continue to lose...
February 2, 2009 5:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
How is a Lobbyland limo-loving levy-eluding longtime legislator change I can believe in? Daschle isn't just one of the usual suspects -- he's the guy.
His hiding his tax default from the transition team is disgraceful, too. Obama should have canned him the moment he found out Daschle had betrayed him. Obama sure was willing to dump Richardson the moment a whiff of scandal wafted past.
The Constant Weader at www.RealityChex.com
February 2, 2009 5:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Daschle should go shovel some snow in SD. He is a far cry from the progressive person we need to be pushing Universal Health Care in America. He will not be willing to cut out all the middle men and profiteers from our very expensive very useless system. Tom has made something like 5 million dollars in the last couple years from speaking at events for the "health care industry". He is a tainted whore now and I do not trust him to do the right thing by the 45 million people without any insurance. Heaven forbid his friends in the "industry" quit paying him millions to compromise us all into an early grave.
February 2, 2009 6:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Its payback time for Dashle helping our new, improved president get to where he is now....
Too bad, but as long as we vote the two mobs back in office, we will continue to reap the benefits... and continue our downhill slide...
February 2, 2009 6:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here I am with my pitchfork. Dump him now!
February 3, 2009 11:51 AM | Reply | Permalink