Community | February 03, 2009 | 42 comments

Daschle withdraws Obama nomination over tax controversy

source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28994296/

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AwesomeJosh
Former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle on Tuesday withdrew his nomination to oversee the Health and Human Services Department, just a few hours after another Obama nominee also withdrew.

Both had controveries with taxes.

Earlier Tuesday, Nancy Killefer withdrew as President Barack Obama's nominee to be the first chief performance officer for the federal government.

"Nancy Killefer has decided to withdraw her nomination, and we accepted her withdrawal," said Tommy Vietor, a White House spokesman.

The White House later released her letter to the president, which in part stated: "I recognize that your agenda and the duties facing your Chief Performance Officer are urgent. I have also come to realize in the current environment that my personal tax issue of D.C. unemployment tax could be used to create exactly the kind of distraction and delay those duties must avoid. Because of this I must reluctantly ask you to withdraw my name from consideration."

Killefer, a 55-year-old executive with consulting giant McKinsey & Co., was the second major Obama administration nominee to withdraw and the third to have tax problems complicate their nomination after President Barack Obama announced their selection.

When her nomination was announced by Obama on Jan. 7, The Associated Press disclosed that in 2005 the District of Columbia government had placed a lien on her home in the upscale Wesley Heights neighborhood. The local government alleged that she had started missing payments on unemployment compensation tax for a household employee. And she failed to make the required quarterly payments for a year and half, whereupon a lien for $946.69 was placed on her home.

Administration officials had refused to answer questions about the lien, which she resolved five months after it was filed.

During that period, Killefer and her husband, an economics professor, had a teenage son and daughter, but she had two nannies and a personal assistant to run her life when she was on the road, she told Harvard business students back then...
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42 comments // Daschle withdraws Obama nomination over tax controversy

  • thestupidtimes
  • KaT_Trina
  • powerhungry
    • 0
      powerhungry  
    • KaT_Trina:

      Very good question.
      Its very important to have people in the govt. that are transparent and NOT above the law. To show that they are beyond reproach when the average person would be out on their ass in these desperate times, would set a precedence that could set off a revolution in this country. Politicians are one step away from being tarred and feathered and run outta town.

      Mr. D was not a bad choice but he was an elitist that thought he was too important to pay taxes until it came time to get appointed.

    • 3 years ago
  • neocongo
  • akamaial
  • Eleganza
    • 0
      Eleganza  

    • "Meet the new boss....same as the old boss"...what was that about not getting fooled again?......" the party on the left is now the party on the right" Pete Townsend got it absolutely right The way I see it...The only option voting today gives you, is the option of choosing which gang is going to rob you. The only equivalent I can come up with is...".don't worry....I'll just put the head in"... and of course there were many young women who believed it...just like us who voted for him..change....yeah ...right...

    • 3 years ago
  • PlatoTacius
    • 0
      PlatoTacius  

    • We the people, in a democratic society, are the government, so how is it us against the government, you unscrupulous twits..? Couldn't it be possible that Obama is attempting to give us back power over our futures, by restoring our rights and civil liberties, as well as our sense of decency and well being..?

      A couple of you guys aren't fooling anybody by your pretense to be non-partisan... your right wing insidiousness shows through your opaque BS masks...

      True, Howard Dean deserves the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services...

      Consider that the leadership decided that Daschle would just be an anchor around Obama's neck...something to give the teary-eyed hypocritical republicans something to cry about.

    • 3 years ago
  • Eleganza
    • 0
      Eleganza  
    • PlatoTacius:

      I'm a little to the left of Che...and the problem as I see it is that Barack KNEW and still was stating his support of Tom until the New York Times wrote a scathing editorial concerning the issue..He was jettisoned because he is a damned tax cheat...but because he became a political liability...how in the Hell is that a change from Scooter Libby, or no bid contracts for Haliburton...or better yet heck of a job Brownie..same wine in a different bottle

    • 3 years ago
  • akamaial
  • cerealforeal
  • clownpuncher
  • neocongo
  • powerhungry
    • 0
      powerhungry  
    • neocongo:

      This was a victory for the USA and I as an American AM relishing this. You knuckle dragging partisan rubes have such tunnle vision, only see this as a "Victory" for one side or the other. Neocongo, you need to quit believing everything you are fed and think for yourself and understand that it is us (me and you) against them (Our govt). They are all crooked...even our missiah President Obama.
      Im just so sick of the Libs and Rep. war. We are all Americans and we need to remember who is our ally and who is trying to screw us.
      Keep LYAO because soon, you wont have a computer to write your crap on. Its just a matter of time before you are broke like the rest of us.

    • 3 years ago
  • Ihatethemall
  • powerhungry
  • maasanova
    • 0
      maasanova  

    • Oh I see. Politicians can not pay taxes and when they get caught they don't have the IRS crawling up their ass and most of the time they just say I'm sorry and it gets brushed under the rug. Cool.

    • 3 years ago
  • Disable
  • akamaial
  • sueathome
    • 0
      sueathome  

    • Takes time to weed out the non team players. I deal with this all the time. People do not like change and many will fall by the wayside.

    • 3 years ago
  • blood77
  • Ricky84
    • 0
      Ricky84  

    • America certainly dodged a bullet with that one. Daschle is a loser. Health and Human Services deserves a lot better.

    • 3 years ago
  • GoliathandDavid
  • resolute
    • 0
      resolute  

    • The change Obama is bringing about is to rid Washington of it's crooks and keep dishonest politicians from coming in.

      That outta make the federal government smaller real quick.

      I hope he finds a virtuous "First Chief Performance Officer". They'll have to have backbone.

    • 3 years ago
  • clownpuncher
  • benfreckle916
  • Eleganza
  • msmith7894
    • 0
      msmith7894  

    • What the heck is the deal with all these democrats not paying their taxes!? This really makes me angry ... I pay my taxes .. the guy running the IRS got caught not paying his taxes and they confirmed him anyway .... this really sucks!!!!!

    • 3 years ago
  • clownpuncher
  • Snuff99
  • Ihatethemall
  • diabolical44
    • 0
      diabolical44  

    • this is a witch hunt. the republicans are just doing everything in their power to put up roadblocks for Obama. They want nothing more than to see him completely fail so they can have a better chance of winning elections in the future. They don't give two shits about this country. Only the corporate special interests that will never let us get a proper healthcare system and themselves do they actually care about. The republicans are the most un-patriotic Americans in our nation.

    • 3 years ago
  • clownpuncher
  • powerhungry
    • 0
      powerhungry  
    • diabolical44:

      HAHAHAAHAHA!!!

      Damn...I need a larger font just to show how much this one made me laugh.

      So you are telling me that the Republi'cants made him not pay his taxes? How are those fools in the Republican party to blame for this cooks actions.

      WAKE UP! THEY ARE ALL CROOKED YOU COOL AIDE DRINKERS!

    • 3 years ago
  • Ihatethemall
    • 0
      Ihatethemall  
    • diabolical44:

      All politicians banks and corps. would sell us down the river if there was a profit to be made. I hate them all.

      I'm sorry mr president, I didnt pay my taxes, the republicans made me do it.......hahahahahahaha..

      You are as gullible as neo, after I sell him the bridge, I got a statue for you....real good deal.....going fast.

    • 3 years ago
  • diabolical44
  • escarondito
  • Ihatethemall
  • neocongo
    • 0
      neocongo  

    • Looks like the middle of the road Dems aren't so good with paying da taxes. Maybe some Liberal Dems will solve that problem.

    • 3 years ago
  • clownpuncher
  • powerhungry
  • Ihatethemall
  • sickinjersey
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