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 |  Subject: Nya, nya, nya! Obama nominees forced to quit over unpaid taxes  Tue Feb 03, 2009 7:01 pm | |
| US President Barack Obama has suffered a major blow as two key nominees for White House positions, Tom Daschle and Nancy Killefer, were forced to withdraw over unpaid tax scandals.
On a disastrous day for Mr Obama, Mr Daschle, a close confidant and his pick to become Health Secretary, and Mrs Killefer, chosen to be "chief performance officer" for the United States government, both pulled out.
The demise of Mr Daschle, who had been charged with overseeing an overhaul of the American health system, is the most serious blow thus far to Mr Obama's young presidency. A former Senate Majority Leader, he was one of the most powerful figures in Washington.
But his failure to pay $128,000 (£90,000) in taxes on a limousine and chauffeur lent to him by a wealthy benefactor led to a swirling controversy that made his appointment politically untenable.
Mr Daschle had apologised abjectly for the "completely inadvertent" oversight and Democrats had enough votes to confirm him but the political cost to Mr Obama eventually proved too much.
"This morning, Tom Daschle asked me to withdraw his nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services," Mr Obama said in a written statement about two hours after Ms Killefer had withdrawn. "I accept his decision with sadness and regret."
Mr Daschle, one of the most senior politicians to endorse Mr Obama as a presidential candidate at an early stage, said he would have not been able to operate "with the full faith of Congress and the American people".
The President, who had already given Mr Daschle a coveted office in the West Wing of the White House, now has to choose another person to enact one of his key campaign promises – to introduce a health system that covers all Americans.
As well as the specific tax issue, Mr Daschle was attracting a wave of criticism for having earned some $5 million in the four years since he was voted out of the Senate. There was also hilarity about an old campaign advertisement in which he boasted about driving a beaten-up 1971 Pontiac rather than the "BMWs and limos" favoured by other politicians.
"It's very unfortunate with Tom Daschle that this has occurred, but the President needs to lead. He needs to step in here and he needs to withdraw this nomination," said Senator Jim DeMint, a conservative Republican.
Mr Daschle pulled out just hours after Killefer said she was withdrawing because of a personal tax issue in Washington, reportedly because she failed to pay employment taxes for a house cleaner.
Killefer, a blue chip management consultant, was targeted to bring modern business practices to the White House, and to slash government waste with a long-term budget deficit of up to a trillion dollars looming.
As the economic crisis raged, she had been tasked by Obama to lead a thorough review of government spending and long-term commitments including Social Security retirement benefits and Medicare health insurance for seniors.
"I recognise that your agenda and the duties facing your Chief Performance Officer are urgent," Killefer said in her letter to the president.
"I have also come to realise in the current environment that my personal tax issue of DC Unemployment tax could be used to create exactly the kind of distraction and delay those duties must avoid.
Last month, Timothy Geithner was confirmed as Treasury Secretary, and overseer of the American tax system, despite having failed to pay $34,000 (£24,000) in Social Security and medical taxes.
The personnel issues threaten to tarnish Mr Obama's image as a squeaky-clean reformer determined to bring new ethical standards to Washington.
On his first full day in office, Mr Obama announced tough new rules covering the appointment of lobbyists to his administration. Within days, however, the rules had been waived so that William Lynn, a defence lobbyist, could become deputy Pentagon chief.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/4450211/Barack-Obama-nominees-forced-to-quit-over-taxes.html |
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