Obama's HHS Secretary Nominee Faces Tax Questions Over Car and Driver

[cinyc]

Bumps in the Road: Obama's HHS Secretary Nominee Faces Tax Questions Over Car and Driver

Daschle has a tax problem regarding a chauffeur that his business partner gave him for free.    No doubt he'll be confirmed (since the Senate always looks the other way when confirming one of their own).   But it's yet another tax cheat in Obama's cabinet.  Only the little people get penalized for failing to pay taxes.

[cinyc]

It amazes me how common it is for people in positions of power to not understand their taxes. Daschle's case makes sense to me because he was on public service salaries his whole life and then, after his defeat, entered a realm of great wealth as a lobbyist. So he didn't know what he was doing--I seriously doubt he intended to scam anyone, any more than Geithner did. What does it say about them and about our tax system that this keeps happening? I don't deny this is a problem.

Hire accountants, people!

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that if you receive free services in the context of employment, that you have an income issue for tax purposes. I am not really willing to assume that Daschle didn't have a clue about this. I suspect he just trimmed a bit out of well, yes, greed.

From the article, Daschle claims that he brought the chauffeur issue up to his accountant on his own last year before Obama was elected.  We'll have to see what the real facts are.   At a minimum, these pampered Senators are so used to having things done for them that they don't even seem to think twice about the tax consequences of getting similar treatment when out of office.

[cinyc]

Daschle wasn't properly vetted by the Obama campaign (in part because he "forgot" to tell them about the chauffeur issue).

It's more than just taxes for the chauffeur now.  According to the Wall Street Journal,  Daschle took impermissible charitable deductions, "forgot" to pay taxes on some consulting income, and there are questions about whether some entertainment and travel services provided by EduCap and companies should have been reported.

Daschle appears to be a major tax cheat who looks Geithner look good by comparison.  But the comfy Senate club will still confirm him.

[cinyc]

How much does it all add up to in total?  And why does someone making $2m a year care about sneaking a few extra bucks at the side?  Not that it matters but I say if it's >$200k let's get someone else.


The problem isn't the Senate it's the fact that Daschle was one of Obama's earliest presidential backers and a lot of Obama's team comes from Daschle's political sphere of influence (since Clinton took everyone else).

According to the WSJ, $140,167 in extra taxes and interest paid so far, including taxes owed on $83,333 of "forgotten" consulting income.

The Senate usually confirms one of its own even if it has to look the other way and hold its nose.