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Yet ANOTHER Democrat with tax trouble!
- Rating:
3 after 1 vote
Since my other topic on this subject seems to have dissapeared, I am posting this one. When will it end? Unbelievable, to say the least. What are they thinking? That everyone else pays their taxes, but they are exempt? Sheesh....are you embarrassed about your party yet all you liberals? How many more out there? Maybe we need a Congressional investigation....nah, that would never happen, can't rat out your buddies....
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/01/bumps-in-the-ro.html
Bumps in the Road: Obama's HHS Secretary Nominee Faces Tax Questions Over Car and Driver
January 30, 2009 6:29 PM
ABC News has learned that the nomination of former Senator Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., to be President Obama's secretary of health and human services has hit a traffic snarl on its way through the Senate Finance Committee.
The controversy deals with a car and driver lent to Daschle by a wealthy Democratic friend -- a chauffeur service the former senator used for years without declaring it on his taxes.
It remains an open question as to whether this is a "speed bump," as a Democratic Senate ally of Daschle put it, or something more damaging.
After being defeated in his 2004 re-election campaign to the Senate, Daschle in 2005 became a consultant and chairman of the executive advisory board at InterMedia Advisors.
Based in New York City, InterMedia Advisors is a private equity firm founded in part by longtime Daschle friend and Democratic fundraiser Leo Hindery, the former president of the YES network (the New York Yankees' and New Jersey Devils' cable television channel).
That same year he began his professional relationship with InterMedia, Daschle began using the services of Hindery's car and driver.
The Cadillac and driver were never part of Daschle's official compensation package at InterMedia, but Mr. Daschle -- who as Senate majority leader enjoyed the use of a car and driver at taxpayer expense -- didn't declare their services on his income taxes, as tax laws require.
During the vetting process to become HHS secretary, Daschle corrected the tax violation, voluntarily paying $101,943 in back taxes plus interest, working with his accountant to amend his tax returns for 2005 through 2007.
(Daschle reimbursed the IRS $31,462 in taxes and interest for tax year 2005; $35,546 for 2006; and $34,935 for 2007, a Daschle spokesperson said, adding that Daschle had asked his accountant to look into the tax implications of the car and driver five months before Obama won the presidency.)
The Daschle spokesperson told ABC News that the senator, facing questions from the committee, has said "he deeply regretted his mistake. When he realized it was a mistake he corrected it rapidly."
The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., has called his colleagues for a private meeting at 5 p.m. ET Monday to discuss these complications surrounding Daschle's nomination.
In the meantime, the White House and Democratic allies are coming to Daschle's defense.
"The president has confidence that Sen. Daschle is the right person to lead the fight for health care reform," White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton said. "In preparation for his nomination, Sen. Daschle and his accountant identified some tax issues and fixed them. They filed amended return with the IRS and made payments with interest. Sen. Daschle brought these issues to the Finance Committee’s attention when he submitted his nomination forms and we are confident the committee is going to schedule a hearing for him very soon and he will be confirmed."
Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., added: "Sen. Daschle will be confirmed as secretary of health and human services. He has a long and distinguished career and record in public service and is the best person to help reform health care in this country."
But House Republicans attending a retreat in Hot Springs, Va. also were buzzing about the news of Daschle's tax problems.
In a speech to his fellow Republican House members, Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., compared Daschle's issue with the tax problems that hindered the confirmation of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and those of Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., who is embroiled in a controversy over payment of taxes on a beachfront villa in the Dominican Republic.
"A pattern is developing," Cantor said. "The pattern is solidified. ... It's easy for the other side to sit here and advocate higher taxes because -- you know what? -- they don't pay them."
This is the second Cabinet nominee of President Obama's to face questions of tax malfeasance. Geithner paid more than $34,000 in taxes during his vetting process for income earned at the International Monetary Fund. Earlier, Commerce secretary nominee Bill Richardson withdrew his name from consideration after reports of a federal investigation involving whether his office engaged in "pay to play," a charge Richardson denied.
The spokesperson said, by way of explaining how it was this happened: "In 2005, Sen. Daschle's close friend Leo Hindery, who lives in New York, offered him the use of a car and driver in Washington when he was not using it. That same year, they began a formal business relationship where he was an independent consultant and chairman of the external advisory board to InterMedia Advisors. The car was not provided as part of his compensation. So it never occurred to him that it should be considered income. The senator simply and probably naively considered its use a generous offer by a longtime friend."
Hindery did not have any comment. Daschle has personally refrained from commenting.
Daschle came before the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee for a hearing on Jan. 8, 2009, and it was a veritable love-in, with the respected former colleague praised to the high heavens.
But staffers at the Senate Finance Committee are generally a little more exacting -- witness the stormy weather faced by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner for his back-tax snafus -- and they have been delving into the issue and exploring all the ramifications before holding a committee vote on his nomination.
The Daschle spokesperson insisted that the former senator is the one who should get credit for discovering, fixing and disclosing the tax issue.
"In June 2008, Sen. Daschle mentioned the use of the car to his personal accountant and asked him if there were any potential tax consequences," the spokesperson said. "His accountant said that there could be tax consequences and said he was going to fix them as part of Daschle's 2008 filing. So when he got down to vetting, Sen. Daschle decided to amend his returns for 2005, 2006 and 2007, and he paid all the taxes. At the urging of Daschle, the accountant was very conservative in his estimates."
Regardless of how the information came to light, a spokeswoman for Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said the public should be aware.
"Sen. Grassley’s position for this nomination is the same as it has been for every other nomination processed by the Finance Committee since 2001, that all relevant information about a nominee must be made public in order for the confirmation process to go forward in the committee," the spokeswoman said. "The public’s business ought to be public, and committee members must weigh all the facts of a nominee’s record."
Daschle has long been one of President Obama's closest advisers, so it was no surprise when the mild-mannered pol was named Obama's nominee to be HHS secretary shortly after Obama won election; his official nomination came Dec. 11, 2008.
Should Daschle have difficulty being confirmed -- a prospect that seems unlikely given the benefit of the doubt senators frequently extend to one another, not to mention the Senate's Democratic majority -- he doesn't have to worry about finding another job in the administration, since President Obama has also appointed him to serve as director of the new White House Office on Health Reform.
-- Jake Tapper, with reporting by ABC News' Jonathan Karl
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/01/bumps-in-the-ro.html
Bumps in the Road: Obama's HHS Secretary Nominee Faces Tax Questions Over Car and Driver
January 30, 2009 6:29 PM
ABC News has learned that the nomination of former Senator Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., to be President Obama's secretary of health and human services has hit a traffic snarl on its way through the Senate Finance Committee.
The controversy deals with a car and driver lent to Daschle by a wealthy Democratic friend -- a chauffeur service the former senator used for years without declaring it on his taxes.
It remains an open question as to whether this is a "speed bump," as a Democratic Senate ally of Daschle put it, or something more damaging.
After being defeated in his 2004 re-election campaign to the Senate, Daschle in 2005 became a consultant and chairman of the executive advisory board at InterMedia Advisors.
Based in New York City, InterMedia Advisors is a private equity firm founded in part by longtime Daschle friend and Democratic fundraiser Leo Hindery, the former president of the YES network (the New York Yankees' and New Jersey Devils' cable television channel).
That same year he began his professional relationship with InterMedia, Daschle began using the services of Hindery's car and driver.
The Cadillac and driver were never part of Daschle's official compensation package at InterMedia, but Mr. Daschle -- who as Senate majority leader enjoyed the use of a car and driver at taxpayer expense -- didn't declare their services on his income taxes, as tax laws require.
During the vetting process to become HHS secretary, Daschle corrected the tax violation, voluntarily paying $101,943 in back taxes plus interest, working with his accountant to amend his tax returns for 2005 through 2007.
(Daschle reimbursed the IRS $31,462 in taxes and interest for tax year 2005; $35,546 for 2006; and $34,935 for 2007, a Daschle spokesperson said, adding that Daschle had asked his accountant to look into the tax implications of the car and driver five months before Obama won the presidency.)
The Daschle spokesperson told ABC News that the senator, facing questions from the committee, has said "he deeply regretted his mistake. When he realized it was a mistake he corrected it rapidly."
The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., has called his colleagues for a private meeting at 5 p.m. ET Monday to discuss these complications surrounding Daschle's nomination.
In the meantime, the White House and Democratic allies are coming to Daschle's defense.
"The president has confidence that Sen. Daschle is the right person to lead the fight for health care reform," White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton said. "In preparation for his nomination, Sen. Daschle and his accountant identified some tax issues and fixed them. They filed amended return with the IRS and made payments with interest. Sen. Daschle brought these issues to the Finance Committee’s attention when he submitted his nomination forms and we are confident the committee is going to schedule a hearing for him very soon and he will be confirmed."
Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., added: "Sen. Daschle will be confirmed as secretary of health and human services. He has a long and distinguished career and record in public service and is the best person to help reform health care in this country."
But House Republicans attending a retreat in Hot Springs, Va. also were buzzing about the news of Daschle's tax problems.
In a speech to his fellow Republican House members, Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., compared Daschle's issue with the tax problems that hindered the confirmation of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and those of Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., who is embroiled in a controversy over payment of taxes on a beachfront villa in the Dominican Republic.
"A pattern is developing," Cantor said. "The pattern is solidified. ... It's easy for the other side to sit here and advocate higher taxes because -- you know what? -- they don't pay them."
This is the second Cabinet nominee of President Obama's to face questions of tax malfeasance. Geithner paid more than $34,000 in taxes during his vetting process for income earned at the International Monetary Fund. Earlier, Commerce secretary nominee Bill Richardson withdrew his name from consideration after reports of a federal investigation involving whether his office engaged in "pay to play," a charge Richardson denied.
The spokesperson said, by way of explaining how it was this happened: "In 2005, Sen. Daschle's close friend Leo Hindery, who lives in New York, offered him the use of a car and driver in Washington when he was not using it. That same year, they began a formal business relationship where he was an independent consultant and chairman of the external advisory board to InterMedia Advisors. The car was not provided as part of his compensation. So it never occurred to him that it should be considered income. The senator simply and probably naively considered its use a generous offer by a longtime friend."
Hindery did not have any comment. Daschle has personally refrained from commenting.
Daschle came before the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee for a hearing on Jan. 8, 2009, and it was a veritable love-in, with the respected former colleague praised to the high heavens.
But staffers at the Senate Finance Committee are generally a little more exacting -- witness the stormy weather faced by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner for his back-tax snafus -- and they have been delving into the issue and exploring all the ramifications before holding a committee vote on his nomination.
The Daschle spokesperson insisted that the former senator is the one who should get credit for discovering, fixing and disclosing the tax issue.
"In June 2008, Sen. Daschle mentioned the use of the car to his personal accountant and asked him if there were any potential tax consequences," the spokesperson said. "His accountant said that there could be tax consequences and said he was going to fix them as part of Daschle's 2008 filing. So when he got down to vetting, Sen. Daschle decided to amend his returns for 2005, 2006 and 2007, and he paid all the taxes. At the urging of Daschle, the accountant was very conservative in his estimates."
Regardless of how the information came to light, a spokeswoman for Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said the public should be aware.
"Sen. Grassley’s position for this nomination is the same as it has been for every other nomination processed by the Finance Committee since 2001, that all relevant information about a nominee must be made public in order for the confirmation process to go forward in the committee," the spokeswoman said. "The public’s business ought to be public, and committee members must weigh all the facts of a nominee’s record."
Daschle has long been one of President Obama's closest advisers, so it was no surprise when the mild-mannered pol was named Obama's nominee to be HHS secretary shortly after Obama won election; his official nomination came Dec. 11, 2008.
Should Daschle have difficulty being confirmed -- a prospect that seems unlikely given the benefit of the doubt senators frequently extend to one another, not to mention the Senate's Democratic majority -- he doesn't have to worry about finding another job in the administration, since President Obama has also appointed him to serve as director of the new White House Office on Health Reform.
-- Jake Tapper, with reporting by ABC News' Jonathan Karl
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Thomas Hoey on -
It is not me. So that said. Lets stay away from values. The guy in the basement may be there because he likes it and the guy with no car...well, hell, a good portion of several million people in cities do not own a car. I don't own a car, but not because I can't...I do not want to. I live in a city and do not need a car. Most of my friends do not own cars. Several people on this site that are worth more than most owners on this board do not own cars. Living in a basement. Well, I have done that, and it is not disasterous. Of course, the basement was in a big city where apartments started at 1k and went up. And I would have been happy to live with my parents.....but sadly, they did not want me living with them.
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Permalink Reply by Bowler Roller on -
I'm the one with no car, because I don't need one. When I need a car, I'll go buy one. I just won't buy, register, or insure one in Michigan.
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Permalink Reply by Thomas Hoey on
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Understandable. The insuring part is the problem. And that is one of the very reason why I am a Liberal. I am out to get the insurance companies who charge ridiculous sums of money for safe drivers. Yes, I can understand insuring a sixteen year old is risky and maybe even a 80 years old (some)...but a 40-50 year old driver, with no negatives on their driving record, who has never even made an insurance claim still pays exhorbitant amounts of money for insurance. And you could use the increased legal claims as an excuse, but they have gone down in my area, not up. Accidents are actually become rarer. Yes, a big problem is driving drunk...but that, because of increased policing has gone way down, also. It is just that the companies want more profit. Thats it period. And I am not opposed to them making a profit. But, once again, the regulating has gone down and the prices up. Need I say... AIG?
Registrations in our area are easier and no more costly than they were 20 years ago. And buying. You can get a car for the prices they were in the 80s, right now.
But again, if you don't need it. Why bother?
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Permalink Reply by Thomas Hoey on
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I agree. If we all had corporate jobs and were making the big bucks, we wouldn't have time to be typing this stuff.
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Permalink Reply by Bowler Roller on
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And that is one of the very reason why I am a Liberal. I am out to get the insurance companies who charge ridiculous sums of money for safe drivers.
I don't understand what that has to do with being a liberal.
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Permalink Reply by xkizarney on -
Here's what I'm talking about. The bulsh!t statement about the checker game really angers me because it is a bunch of crap especially when it is used as a slam against others. There is a charity called Aid for Disabled Veterans. One of the things they do is help get artificial limbs for veterans along with the physical therapy to enable them to use them. Where that checker game will do nothing to get that soldier's limb back, a donation to that or another charity that aids veterans may.
Another thing that angers me is when anyone is labled. It makes no difference who may have the same views on something that I do. It makes no difference if one lives in a basement or the other has no car. Their views are still important & they have the right to voice them. (For the record I am an independent man. Have been since I was about 12 yrs old. I have a job that pays well and ask nothing from anyone other than what I've earned. I certainly have earned the right to say whatever I want.)
The last thing that angers me is a bigot. A person who feels he is superior to another just because he may drive or live on his own. I most certainly would rather a person add to a conversation instead of slighting others for their views. That is the mark of a small mind.
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Permalink Reply by xkizarney on
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I agree. If we all had corporate jobs and were making the big bucks, we wouldn't have time to be typing this stuff.
Tom, I have a job that takes a lot of my day, yet I type here a lot. You just have to multi-task. I' m doing both right now as a matter of fact.
I also can't understand what "getting" the insurance companies has to do with liberalism.? That seems to be the goal of everyone. Either by fighting them in the courts or by filing fraudulent claims. Maybe if some of those court fights & fraudulent claims were stopped, the insurace rates would go down. Yeah, right, fat chance..
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Permalink Reply by xkizarney on
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We cannot ignore the things going on in our country either. Our govt has been broken for many years and still is. Some may believe President Obama is honestly trying to fix things but the truth is he is having to deal with the same old inept law makers who got us into this mess
I agree with that but actually Obama was also one who got us where we are now. He is part of the problem not a solution. His policies have tripled the debt, gave aid to Hamas under the guise of rebuilding the Gaza strip, made us propaganda fodder for one of the most powerful enemies we face today (Iran), & effectively destroyed the middle class. He has stopped oil exploration in this country, along with natural gas, coal production, & nuclear all in the name of 2 non-workable forms of energy, wind & solar..
The stock market plummets with his every word. His administration is full of tax dodgers. Everything he has done since taking office has & will only drive us further into depression.
I believe this is deliberate & premeditated on his part. I believe that is the plan. Has been from the start. I also believe he is not eligible for the office he holds. There is too much money being spent to keep the many law suits asking him to show proof out of the courts. I believe he is, as I've said from the 1st, a Moslem. So far everything I've seen supports that.
The firefighter who was fighting, being fired was not the decision of the fire house where he worked. He had to be fired because of the state rule that said his job could only be hend open for so long. Is that wrong? Yes it is but place the blame where it is due. Blame the bureaucratic buffoons that mad the rule in the 1st place
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Permalink Reply by Thomas Hoey on
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I gotta tell ya....you guys are something. Obama has been President of the United states for 46 days and according to you he has given aid to hamas, stopped oil exploration, destroyed the middle class, ruined coal, natural gas and has driven the stock market down daily. All of the above in 46 days. If you were right and of course, any fool can see that you are not....he would be doing more miracles than Christ, did.
What he has done, in 46 days, is secured the rights of Women to sue for equal pay for equal employment, secured health benefits for all children, passed the largest recovery bill, ever...started a viable dialogue consisting of Insurance companies, Doctors, Lawyers and Politicians working together towards a new health initiative that will provide at the least the same medicare coverage I have to my children. He has appointed effective leadership that is bringing us closer to all nations from Muslim dominated to Euro Christian dominated along with Hindus and Buddists while giving the American people confidence and hope (see the polls for reference). I could go on because that is not all he has done in those 46 days. But he is keeping his word, which to me is more important than any other thing he can do.
I am heartned by the fact that, although he is not prompting it, the Democrat controlled Congress is seeking to find information necessary to bring those in the prior administration who violated both ours and international laws to continue the everlasting human need to wage endless wars over religious beliefs and the need for empire.
Oh, did I mention he ended one War and while strengthening our military posture is attempting to end the other.
Jeeez. Give the guy a break. Give it a break, for awhile. Did we not get enough of these rants for two years. I am getting tired of giving the same answers to the same tired complaints. The bottom line for your desire for the radical tearing down of government, is; it is not going to happen. Period. There is a small number of people in this country that would see the end of government. Fine. That is their right. But it is not supported by reason, fact or desire. I want a government and feel mankind needs governments. I even think we still have to have borders but hope that in my grandchildrens lives, we might see the necessity of borders to end.
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Permalink Reply by skywheelrider on -
Did we not get enough of these rants for
twoEIGHT years.
Yes, from you liberals/Dems (had to fix that for you). For eight years, it was President Bush should fail, his policies should fail, everything thing he does should fail, he is a "miserable failure," our troops have failed, worst President in history, President Bush lied (we heard that a million times over), he "stole" the election, he was burned in effigy, on and on. For eight years we heard that. And now that Obama is President, we're all supposed to get along and sing kumbaya? We're not supposed to oppose his policies and what he wants to do to the government? We're not supposed to speak out against anything the Democrats do or Obama does, or wants to do? We're not allowed to have our say after you all ranted for eight years and screamed "freedom of speech" everytime you spoke out? When we speak out against him we are "obstructionists" and/or racists? Give me a break. What goes around comes around.
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Permalink Reply by Midge on -
Ah...what war did he end? Did I miss something,I've been taking more naps than usual..darn I pushed the wrong reply button again..
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Permalink Reply by xkizarney on
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NAME ONE POSITIVE THING THAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE HE TOOK THE HELM? Oh yeah, his 3 trillion dollar addition to the national debt got those 25 police cadets their jobs. Just what we need. 25 more storm troopers stomping on our civil rights. In the meantime there was another 650,000 jobs lost in Feb. due to his agenda.
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looking to meet a travel mate or find someone else that is single and going through the same stuff u are well here u go
Included are ride safety inspection rules, regulations, phone numbers and addresses for the different agencies in the United States and abroad.
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I don't know about you but I take myself, way, too seriously. We are born and we die, with a few laughs in-between.
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