Daschle: Delinquent Personal Taxes [MERGED]

[NickCole]

Re: Obama chooses another tax cheat for cabinet

Wasn't defending him, was pointing out that since he actually did pay his taxes(albeit eventually), justapixels original post was wrong.

I think you should pay your taxes on time, and if these things come up, then deal with it as soon as possible. I honestly don't know much about filing tax returns and all that shit, got me an accountant cousin who does family for free, otherwise would cost you an arm and a leg(although he is extremely good at what he does)

You don't have to know anything about filing taxes to understand this story and recognize Tom Daschle is a tax cheater.

And he's the second one Obama has appointed to a high level position in his Administration.

And he's probably the second one the Democratic Congress will approve.

You don't have to know anything about filing taxes to recognize this is scummy, not ethical, behavior. But you do have to know the difference between right and wrong.

 

[techboywi]

Re: Daschle's a Tax Cheat Too

Wow...a politician lied and tried to cheat the system...gee..that never happens.. Come on....he made a mistake and is owning up to it.... BFD.

 

[NickCole]

Re: Daschle's a Tax Cheat Too

Wow...a politician lied and tried to cheat the system...gee..that never happens.. Come on....he made a mistake and is owning up to it.... BFD.

So all that stuff about Change and ethics was Just Words afterall?

 

[naked gent]

Re: Obama chooses another tax cheat for cabinet

Lack of regulation had little or nothing to do with the problem.
Banks were threatened by government - told that if they didn't make more loans in certain neighborhoods they would be accused of 'redlining.'

You might have a point if the banks had been the only ones making the sub-prime mortgages but thats not the case. Unregulated mortgage companies who were never threatened by the government made the majority of the loans.

It was the profits those mortgage companies, such as Countrywide, made which induced the banks to join the game as much as anything Washington did.

 

[techboywi]

Re: Daschle's a Tax Cheat Too

So all that stuff about Change and ethics was Just Words afterall?

Here is a answer you'll like.... YES. Happy now?

 

[opinterph]

Re: Obama chooses another tax cheat for cabinet

That Daschle only paid those taxes 6 days before his confirmation hearing makes it pretty obvious he only paid them because Obama nominated him to a visable high-ranking position in the Executive Branch and the vetting process discovered it.

That portion of your observation appears to be correct. It is detailed in the Senate Finance Committee Statement concerning the nomination of Thomas A. Daschle.

In the past, applicants/appointees were automatically ineligible for some federal jobs if they owed the government money. In searching online, I cannot find a statement to that effect. Does anyone know if there are currently any such limitations?


Declaration for Federal Employment (Optional Form 306):

Are you delinquent on any Federal debt? (Includes delinquencies arising from Federal taxes, loans, overpayment of benefits, and other debts to the U.S. Government, plus defaults of Federally guaranteed or insured loans such as student and home mortgage loans.) If "YES," use item 16 to provide the type, length, and amount of the delinquency or default, and steps that you are taking to correct the error or repay the debt. [Link]

 

[HenryReardon]

Re: Obama chooses another tax cheat for cabinet

You might have a point if the banks had been the only ones making the sub-prime mortgages but thats not the case. Unregulated mortgage companies who were never threatened by the government made the majority of the loans.

It was the profits those mortgage companies, such as Countrywide, made which induced the banks to join the game as much as anything Washington did.

The link below is to an article that gives a slightly different point of view about Countrywide:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/englund/englund43.html


Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were underwriting bad mortgages not just those originated by banks. Remember Barny Frank was in bed (literally) with a Fannie Mae executive.

There is plenty of blame to go around, but a case can be made for the fact that if the government had not gotten involved the crisis might not have happened.

 

[Glafna]

Re: Obama chooses another tax cheat for cabinet

Congratulations, you win on technicality....

The broader point though still stands; Democrats can't be trusted, at least not anymore than those of the Bush administration. You know what, I don't think I'm going to pay taxes this year. Yeah, that sounds good. Because apparently it's ok to do so. Maybe I'll pay though in 2 or 3 years, we'll see....

Since I'd be a Dem if I lived in the states... can't really agree with your broad definition. Politicians as a whole can't be fully trusted, I don't trust Harper at all, and I don't trust Obama as much as I should, but that's what happens when politicians end up fucking so many people over.

 

[Kulindahr]

Re: Obama chooses another tax cheat for cabinet

Kulindahr was attempting to support his claim that Cheney had stolen money.
I asked for proof, which he has so far failed to provide.

For proof you'll have to wait for a court of law -- which is unlikely to happen.

But Cheney manipulated the intelligence community into providing Bush with just the right info. He made sure that the folks from Bush I who still were unhappy that Bush had them stop at the Kuwait/Iraq border were always there to press the case. He got his "former" cohorts from Haliburton and all involved.
And with all that, if you think that billions disappeared and he didn't get any of it, you're living in some sort of fairyland.

And we've seen how well that has worked... Its the lack of regulation that has in part lead to the financial mess we are in

Sort of: it was the constant climate of regulation that drove people to stretching things as far as they could without getting arrested, and then the sudden lifting of that inhibitor. The attitude of "How far can we stretch this?" that regulation had engendered led to the same behavior -- but now not only was there an open door, but the government was urging them to use it.

The link below is to an article that gives a slightly different point of view about Countrywide:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/englund/englund43.html

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were underwriting bad mortgages not just those originated by banks. Remember Barny Frank was in bed (literally) with a Fannie Mae executive.

There is plenty of blame to go around, but a case can be made for the fact that if the government had not gotten involved the crisis might not have happened.

True enough: once a trend gets started, and it looks good, everyone else stampedes to get in on it. I think there was a mindset that since the government had encouraged it, the government would keep an eye on things.

You know what they say about, "We're from the government -- we're here to help you."

 

[Kulindahr]

Re: Obama chooses another tax cheat for cabinet

They [the tax cuts] merely compounded the problem. You don't cut taxes when you're fighting a costly war you can't even afford.

In defense of Bush -- didn't he have the tax cuts in place before his little adventure in Iraq?

 

[NickCole]

Re: Daschle's a Tax Cheat Too

Here is a answer you'll like.... YES. Happy now?

No.

But I'm right.

 

[NickCole]

Re: Obama chooses another tax cheat for cabinet

That portion of your observation appears to be correct. It is detailed in the Senate Finance Committee Statement concerning the nomination of Thomas A. Daschle.

In the past, applicants/appointees were automatically ineligible for some federal jobs if they owed the government money. In searching online, I cannot find a statement to that effect. Does anyone know if there are currently any such limitations?


Declaration for Federal Employment (Optional Form 306):

In ObamaNation it wouldn't matter if they are "automatically ineligible."

ObamaCo has no qualms about waiving ethical rules.

That's what ObamaNation calls Change. That's what they call the new ethical standard of transparency:

Yes We Can break ethical rules and we won't bother keeping it from you because we know you won't care anyway.

That's The One We've Been Waiting For. God help us.

 

[NickCole]

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s choice for health secretary, Tom Daschle, was aware as early as last June that he might have to pay back taxes for the use of a car and driver provided by a private equity firm, but did not inform the Obama transition team until weeks after Mr. Obama named him to the health secretary’s post, senior administration officials said Saturday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/01/us/politics/01daschle.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

This is, at the least, irresponsible and poor judgment.

He knew as least as long ago as last June and yet didn't set it right until 6 days before his confirmation hearing many months later.

It's reasonable to expect better from high ranking officials of an administration that promised a more ethical and transparent Administration.

“The president believes that nobody is perfect, but that nobody is trying to hide anything,” Robert Gibbs, the president’s press secretary, said in an interview, adding, “I think Senator Daschle rightly is going to have to answer questions, but I think members will be satisfied with the answers that he gives and will understand that he’s the right man for the job.”

And this, as I pointed out as long ago as the Primaries, is the ObamaNation credo. Saying that "nobody is perfect" is accepted as good enough explanation for any wrongdoing, as long as the wrongdoing is by one of "our own." Obviously nobody is perfect but that has nothing to do with forthrightly addressing the matter at hand; it reduces any minor or major "mistake," to the same level of acceptable because golly gee nobody is perfect. It's the kind of thing a parent says to a child who feels bad about a social faux pas, not what we should expect from our top leaders who behave irresponsibly and exercise poor judgment.

And it's a lie to say "nobody is trying to hide anything." If Daschle, and the Obama team, hadn't been trying to hide this then they would have been transparent about releasing the information when they discovered it. Ethical behavior isn't doing the right thing only when it conveniences you, and transparency isn't being forthright only when it serves your purpose.

 

[naked gent]

Re: Obama chooses another tax cheat for cabinet

The link below is to an article that gives a slightly different point of view about Countrywide:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/englund/englund43.html


Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were underwriting bad mortgages not just those originated by banks. Remember Barny Frank was in bed (literally) with a Fannie Mae executive.

I didn't see anything in the link provided to suggest that government pressure or over-regulation were the cause of Countrywide's business practices which was your claim above.

Please try to stay on point.

And as to Rockwell's dubious claim that it was Mozilo's liberal politics or his political correctness that was behind his actions I'll stick to the belief that it was all that money filling his pockets which motivated him and nothing else.

Unless you think him making all that money was a secondary concern of his.

I concede that had Countrywide not been able to sell the loans to Freddie or Fannie same of this could have been avoided but I think proper regulation would have done the same thing while continuing the expansion of american house ownership which, as you say, was a goal of both parties.

There is plenty of blame to go around, but a case can be made for the fact that if the government had not gotten involved the crisis might not have happened.

As we all now know many of those loans were packaged and given a triple A rating by the rating agencies and then sold to all kinds of investors who liked the returns they promised. No government role there and had Fannie and freddie not been buying the loans how do we know the private market would not have picked up the slack?

After all the wealthy had all that extra money to invest after Bush gave them their big tax cut and there are only so many good investments to go around.

 

[HenryReardon]

Re: Obama chooses another tax cheat for cabinet

I didn't see anything in the link provided to suggest that government pressure or over-regulation were the cause of Countrywide's business practices which was your claim above.

Please try to stay on point.

.

Please try to read and comprehend. I made no claims regarding Countrywide.
Someone else mentioned them and I offered a link to a different take on the subject.

 

[naked gent]

Lack of regulation had little or nothing to do with the problem.
Banks were threatened by government - told that if they didn't make more loans in certain neighborhoods they would be accused of 'redlining.'

Please try to read and comprehend. I made no claims regarding Countrywide.
Someone else mentioned them and I offered a link to a different take on the subject.

I am trying to comprehend you Henry. You wrote above that a lack of regulation had little or nothing to do with the problem and while you didn't mention Countrywide specifically since they were a major player in the problem you referred to you were making a claim about them whether you were aware of it or not.

While the Rockwell link does give a different take on the subject it does not support anything you have said about regulation or government pressure to make loans.

The free market failed us here as much as anything else and not recognizing that fact only increases the possibility of the mistake being repeated.

What we needed then and now is some regulation but what we're more likely to get is over-regulation because we tend to over-react to almost everything (see 9-11) and our economy will suffer because of it.

 

[HenryReardon]

Ins.

The free market failed us here as much as anything else and not recognizing that fact only increases the possibility of the mistake being repeated.

t.

It was never really a free market. Not in the laissez faire sense of the word.
Government had a hand in the mix, to one degree or another.

 

[Kulindahr]

After all the wealthy had all that extra money to invest after Bush gave them their big tax cut and there are only so many good investments to go around.

You were doing really well till this line: the wealthy didn't have "all that extra money", they were keeping more of their own money.
They had more money than they may have deserved because of government collusion with large corporations which helps them keep free of domestic competition -- which is what got Detroit and other companies into trouble. Even so, it was still their money.
And they had more money than before, but it wasn't "extra", it was just money the government didn't take, that it used to.

It was never really a free market. Not in the laissez faire sense of the word.
Government had a hand in the mix, to one degree or another.

Any market that has to put up with constantly changing regulations is not "free". When regulations get tight, accountants and businessmen look for ways around them, and how to push them as far as they can. When regulations are loosened, they continue that habit and rush to find new limits and new boundaries. Accountants especially love to find new ways to make numbers dance around so they "win".
This is to be expected, because there's no reason to expect a sense of responsibility in an area where the government has taken over that job. Any legislation written has to take that into account -- and no one did.
So the whole problem has been one of politicians doing what politicians do -- making nice so they can get votes; and businessmen/accountants doing what they've learned to do -- push the boundaries.

And Daschle was doing what most people do quite frequently: putting off a large expense. In that, he's part of the same climate that got us into this economic fix: trying to beat the system.

 

[Kulindahr]

Obama has screwed up royally: he promised change, and he's doing the same old song and dance.

He should have avoided politicians in every single appointment: no senators, no congresscritters at all; no governors, no state senators, no lobbyists who worked as such under the last president, no sons or daughters or wives or husbands of any of those, either. Instead, he should have gone with a page from FDR, and picked intelligent, creative people from fields related to the appointments.

What he's doing now is engaging in the game of the perpetuation of power, recycling used parts in a worn system -- just like Bush did. That's exactly what many Americans thought they were voting against -- how many thought they were voting for a man who keeps us marching down the road to an imperial system?

Daschle should be out -- and everyone else who has served in Washington any time in the last five years.

 

[naked gent]

You were doing really well till this line: the wealthy didn't have "all that extra money", they were keeping more of their own money.

They had more money than they would have had under Clinton and some of that money went into bad investments which contributed to the housing crises.

Had they not had that money to invest who knows how differently things might have turned out.

The old saw is that bad money drives good money out and in this debacle it looks like bad high returns drove good lesser returns out and money flowed to bad investments.

(although I concede that without the part played by the rating agencies perhaps those investments would not have looked so good)