Times to Daschle: Go Home

Tax, conflict-of-interest issues should disqualify ex-Senate leader
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 3, 2009 9:38 AM CST
Times to Daschle: Go Home
Former Sen. Tom Daschle speaks to the media after a closed session meeting with the Senate Finance Committee on Capitol Hill, Monday, Feb. 2, 2009.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

In the wake of revelations about his tax oversights and industry ties, the New York Times is calling on Tom Daschle to step aside and let Barack Obama pick a “less-blemished” Health and Human Services secretary. Daschle’s $128,000 tax lapse dwarfs even Tim Geithner’s. “The American tax system depends heavily on voluntary compliance,” the editorial argues, and waving through two tax evaders “would send a terrible message.”

Daschle’s ties to major health industry players are even more troubling. Though technically not a registered lobbyist, “Daschle is another in a long line of politicians who move cozily between government and industry.” Lobbyists have paid Daschle more than $2 million in recent years, and he’s provided policy advice to UnitedHealth Group, which could throw a cloud over health care reform. “Mr. Daschle could clear the atmosphere by withdrawing his name,” the Times concludes.
(More Tom Daschle stories.)

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