The Tax-Troubled Confirmation Circus

The last several weeks have seen a whirlwind of Presidential appointments and Senate confirmations to many of the federal government's top posts. While most of the President's nominations have survived the scrutiny, several others have turned belly-up during the process. Three individuals in particular, Tom Daschle, Nancy Killefer and Tim Geithner, have all been tainted by tax problems during the appointment process. While Geithner slipped through before public outrage had reached a crescendo, Daschle and Killefer wisely withdrew from consideration rather than face what promised to be a very difficult and contentious confirmation process.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, the man now ultimately in charge of the Internal Revenue Service, repeatedly failed to pay payroll and Social Security taxes in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. For the average Joe this would be known as tax evasion, considered a crime, and treated accordingly. For Mr. Geithner, it was an "innocent mistake", "careless and avoidable, but unintentional," and "a lot to do about nothing." President Obama, his Democrat allies in the Senate and a disappointing number of Republican Senators were willing to go along with this line of hogwash and confirmed Mr. Geithner anyway.

Next came Nancy Killefer, President Obama's nominee to staff the newly created position of Chief Performance Officer. Her failure to pay unemployment compensation tax for her domestic help forced her to withdraw her nomination. Once again the liberal elites rushed to her defense with arguments that their own nannies demanded to be paid under the table so as to preserve their eligibility for Medicaid. Apparently that which would be considered a crime for most people is simply petty nit-picking when applied to the liberal elites.

Finally, former Democrat Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle last week withdrew his name from consideration to be Secretary of the Health and Human Services Department. Daschle owed nearly $150,000 in back taxes and penalties for a limousine and driver that he neglected to recognize as taxable income. And he was facing tough questions about the five million plus dollars in fees he accepted for speaking engagements to the very same health care groups he was now being nominated to regulate. By this time, the public, the Senate and even the liberal New York media had seen enough and Senator Daschle was forced to withdraw his nomination. This time, President Obama dropped the "innocent mistake" language and instead declared that nominating Daschle was "his mistake".

President Obama was elected on a platform of change, promising that his administration would be a paragon of virtue and transparency. The fact that he has nominated three tax evaders to high positions in his administration is an indication that, rather than change, we are getting business as usual. And it also explains why so many in his administration are eager to raise the tax rates - they don't pay them.

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