Does it make any sense that Tom Daschle owed $128,000 in back taxes related to the use of a car? If that was the amount of the unpaid taxes, then the unreported income would have to have been $300,000 or more. Maybe I just don’t live the high Washington life, but I just cannot see how anyone can receive that much value in car services. Are we getting a clear story here?
I am strongly in favor of Mr. Daschle being confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services. But I do think before we rush to judgment, or rush to his defense, we need to make sure we understand the tax issues with greater clarity.
From the Center Square 
February 1, 2009 at 4:29 pm
I agree. This administration was supposed to be the one with the highest of standards and we already see waivers for this guy and that guy and now this. I see business as usual, except if McCain were president the media would be engaged in a feeding frenzy.
February 2, 2009 at 11:08 pm
I am not saying that this is a case where the Obama administration, or Daschle himself, is in the wrong. Or even that it contradicts Obama’s campaign rhetoric. When it comes to key personnel selections, what I heard from the Obama campaign was: (a) competence first and foremost; (b) lobbyists take a hike; and (c) high standards of ethics throughout — in that order. Daschle is a homerun on the first criterion, and is solid on the second. This tax question goes to the third criterion. My point is that it is every difficult to evaluate the potential for an ethics lapse, when the basic facts are so unclear. And don’t even seem to make sense — again, $128,000 in unpaid taxes for car services??? You could buy a dozen Hondas for the amount of income that had to represent. What are we missing?
February 3, 2009 at 7:06 pm
[…] Partly, that begs the question of how a well-liked, respected, decent, friendly, fair-minded guy gets himself into a jam with the IRS in the first place. I want to believe the best. I am a business owner, and my taxes are complex, and some years I am paying extra to reflect updated accounting, some years I am getting big sums back. I know that it is all over my head and that I must have a lot of faith in my tax accountant. Maybe Daschle’s tax problems are somewhere in that space, I don’t know. (Separately, I continue to wonder how anyone can receive enough auto services to add up to the kind of reportable income that it takes to generate $128,000 of tax liability, but that’s another post. Literally: https://thecentersquare.wordpress.com/2009/02/01/tom-daschles-taxes-what-are-we-missing-here/). […]