In December, I was wondering whether the return of the Democrats to the White House would bring back the scandal a day that we used to have with the Clintons. It looks like it has. and, the reaction from the media and the new administration is also very Clintonian.
I just finished reading about the latest "honest mistake" by a new appointee to the Obama Cabinet. First we had the Treasury Secretary who "overlooked" the fact that he had to pay self employment tax for four years. He overlooked the quarterly memos from his employer, the International Monetary Fund, that explained that all US citizens employed by IMF had to pay that tax. He also overlooked the annual check that he received from the IMF to pay the employers' portion of that tax. Indeed, he overlooked the fact that this money from the IMF came in each case with a memo explaining that the funds were intended to be sent on to the IRS as part of the total tax payment. He also overlooked the fact that after getting caught by the IRS and having to pay these taxes for the years for which he was being audited, he also had the same problem for two other years which he ignored. Indeed, he did not even think about this problem; he just overlooked it. Of course, once he was nominated to be Secretary of the Treasury, he suddenly remembered this previously overlooked problem and paid the tax just days before his confirmation hearings. How could anyone doubt that this was an honest mistake.
Now we have Tom Daschle who also "overlooked" hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxes due to the US Governement. Daschle is supposed to be Secretary of HHS. In that role, he will not run the IRS like Geitner, rather, he will head the agency that is tasked with preventing fraud from those who deal with the government regarding most of the federal benefit programs. It warms my heart to know that the head of that department is someone who could "overlook" all of that income on which he was supposed to pay taxes. I am also encouraged that Daschle was able to leave the Senate and honor his commitment (AND THE LAW) not to become a lobbyist attempting to influence his former Senate colleagues. I am sure that it is a mere coincidence the Dashle's wife became a lobbyist who dealt with all of the Senators. Those who think that this is a problem obviously are mean spirited and untrusting; they probably are those who do not overlook the law, but actually attempt to follow it. I am sure that if there were anything wrong with Mrs. Daschle becomming a lobbyist, the Senate leadership under Harry Reid (who has three sons who are lobbyists but who never mention their father during their lobbying activities) will block Daschle's nomination.
I do not want to slight President Obama in this post. After all, he has managed to overlook his commitment that lobbyists would not be appointed to his administration. First, the number two guy at Treasury and now another one at Defense have managed to have their years of emplyment as lobbyists overlooked. I bet it was just an honest mistake.
Nor do I want to forget Bill Richardson. He was appointed Commerce Secretary only to have to withdraw his name since he and the President managed to "overlook" the fact that Richardson was involved with an on-going corruption investigation in New Mexico. I guess the prosecutors are checking to see if Richardson had just made a dishonest mistake.
Since posts cannot exceed fifty pages, I also will not mention Hillary and Bill, the poster children for "overlooking" ethical and legal requirements.
The point here is this: Obama has been in office less than two weeks and the drumbeat of scandal has not just started, but rather has been booming. The media, however, has been silent about this and the Senate has already approved Geitner as Secretary of Treasury.
In truth, the question seems to be this -- what is the difference between the Blagojevich administration in Illinois and the Obama Administration in Washington? Answer -- just the names.
No comments:
Post a Comment