The Daschle Disappointment
When he left the Senate as Minority Leader in 2005, Tom Daschle was a man of modest means with a good reputation. Four years later, he is the wealthy and beleaguered Obama choice to overhaul America’s health care system.
The verdict on his nomination is in doubt (the Senate has a tradition of taking care of its own), but the trajectory of his life over the past four years is deeply disturbing.
Barred by law from lobbying, Daschle went to work as a “special policy adviser” to a high-powered K Street law firm with 60 percent of its revenue from the health industry, in 2008 earning a reported $2 million.
He also took in at least $1 million a year (undisclosed details of profit-sharing may hide much more) from “long-time friend,” Leo Hindery, a telecom tycoon with a history of befriending politicians, an operator whose method has been described as “buy low, pump it full of ‘stardust,’ and then dump it.”
It was Hindery, who provided the limo and driver, services for which Daschle has now belatedly paid $140,000 in back taxes and interest.
But fellow senators such as Dick Durbin are sympathetic about this and other tax errors such as inflating charitable contributions that now plague the newly rich Daschle.
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3 Responses to “The Daschle Disappointment”
I agree on this. I wouldn't complain if Daschle was rejected. It's one thing to have this come up in Geithner's case. But to have it haunt two cabinet nominees is too much.
Not to mention the ever increasing list of lobbyists that keep getting added to the Obama team, in direct conflict to his rules.
Ah well, rules are made to be broken, right? I mean, for a good cause, correct?
I agree with Robert and Elrod, my intial reaction to the choice of Daschle was a postive one, but somewhere along the line he started morphing into this current rather disappointing person. I think we've all had a bellyfull of these ethically challenged people by now. Obama would be wise to find a better choice.