Plot thickens on Daschle’s tax shaving

Now we find out that former Sen. Tom Daschle not only didn't pay some $140,000 in taxes owed, he knew about it last July, but didn't disclose it and pay up until last month.

That spells additional trouble for President Obama's choice to become the secretary of Health and Human Services. That means that before Obama tapped him for the job, Daschle knew he had a problem. And, since Team Obama expressed surprise when it was revealed last Friday that Daschle had finally settled up with the IRS, we can logically conclude that Daschle did not disclose his problem to Obama.

If I were Obama, I'd be ticked. In fact, I'm surprised Obama's sticking with Daschle after that "little" oversight.

But, of course, the bigger question that looms for Daschle is how in the world he underpaid in the first place. As the former head of the senate, he surely knew that the limo and driver he was given by his employer was a form of compensation. Anyone who has to fill out a mileage form or gets an auto allowance knows that. That's a simple IRS compensation principle. It is straightforward. If Daschle says he "didn't know" then I will argue that he's too damn careless to run Health and Human Services.

Certainly, no matter which side of the political boat you row, you should find nothing good in these developments. Daschle's tax shaving go to his personal honesty. Obama's strange penchant for hiring those who are known to have tax shaved tells me that his big promise of being "something different" in the White House was just a load of hooey. If he really believed it was time to bring integrity to the way government works, he would have dismissed both Daschle and Tim Geithner and found replacements who could at least stand on that high ground.

Instead, Obama sends a crummy message to hard-working Americans who pay their taxes, faithfully and accurately. He basically says: SUCKERS!