Just an open thread for discussion.<\/p>\n
I agree with Ezra <\/a>— this is a victory for ethics, but it lowers the odds of a big health care reform passing. Although keep in mind that Daschle may still have an office in the White House<\/a>. (UPDATE: No, he won’t.<\/a>)<\/p>\n I’m actually not all that bothered by nominees failing to pay taxes, and then paying up with penalties and interest added. That’s something that happens routinely — and not only to rich people. And it seems likely to me that this wasn’t a deliberate attempt to commit tax fraud. (What’s unusual about Daschle is the scale <\/em>of his screw-up, because he’s so goddamn rich.)<\/p>\n The corruptions that bother me are more systematic. I’m bothered by Daschle being so rich that he apparently doesn’t think twice about getting a free car and full-time driver; how representative can a government composed significantly of people that rich be?<\/p>\n I’m also bothered by Daschle taking tens of thousands of dollars<\/a> for speeches from industries that still might end up creating regulatory law for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Just an open thread for discussion. I agree with Ezra — this is a victory for ethics, but it lowers the odds of a big health care reform passing. Although keep in mind that Daschle may still have an office … Continue reading