Obama's Cabinet and Staff

[lostfan]

I agree. And by peer pressure, I think you mean "within-the-family" peers. Either she just wasn't up to it right now or she just didn't want to do it. If she really wants it, she has a few years to make herself a policy guru and practice speeches, and she can re-run for the seat then.

Yeah that's what it seemed like to me, at least to an outside observer with absolutely no insider knowledge at all. I know that she's a lot like Chelsea Clinton, in that she's never been a big fan of the bright public spotlight, and she'd have to give that up if she became a politician.

[Balta1701]

Obama's nominee for Director of National Intelligence refuses to call waterboarding torture.

[lostfan]

Not worried about it, he said there'd be no waterboarding on his watch, as long as he and his boss are on the same page with what's supposed to happen I don't care what his personal views are.

 

Honestly if we're gonna do shady stuff like that it really should be classified and we the public should never find out.

Edited January 23, 2009 by lostfan

[kapkomet]

Not worried about it, he said there'd be no waterboarding on his watch, as long as he and his boss are on the same page with what's supposed to happen I don't care what his personal views are.

 

Honestly if we're gonna do shady stuff like that it really should be classified and we the public should never find out.

 

 

DING DING DING DING DING DING DING, and DING! I can't underscore what a problem I have with this stuff being disclosed in the first place.

 

 

[ChiSox_Sonix]

Obama's nominee for Director of National Intelligence refuses to call waterboarding torture.

 

Good

 

 

Not worried about it, he said there'd be no waterboarding on his watch, as long as he and his boss are on the same page with what's supposed to happen I don't care what his personal views are.

 

Honestly if we're gonna do shady stuff like that it really should be classified and we the public should never find out.

 

Agreed, stuff like this should never come to the public attention.

 

DING DING DING DING DING DING DING, and DING! I can't underscore what a problem I have with this stuff being disclosed in the first place.

 

 

 

[lostfan]

Rep. Kirsten Gillenbrand to take Hillary's seat?

Yes.

 

Interesting, endorsed by both the NRA and the ACLU.

Edited January 23, 2009 by lostfan

[Cknolls]

Rep. Kirsten Gillenbrand to take Hillary's seat?

 

 

Noticing a pattern here. Does it have to be a woman who fills the seat for two years?

[Cknolls]

Obama's nominee for Director of National Intelligence refuses to call waterboarding torture.

 

 

Maybe I will like some of Obama's nomineses after all.

[lostfan]

Noticing a pattern here. Does it have to be a woman who fills the seat for two years?

Yeah, that was definitely calculated.

[bmags]

Yes, I too hope all shady activity by our government never comes to light!

[lostfan]

Yes, I too hope all shady activity by our government never comes to light!

No that's not the reason. Certain things are just not meant for public knowledge (I'm in no way advocating torture here btw).

[kapkomet]

Yes, I too hope all shady activity by our government never comes to light!

 

 

No that's not the reason. Certain things are just not meant for public knowledge (I'm in no way advocating torture here btw).

Exactly.

[Balta1701]

No that's not the reason. Certain things are just not meant for public knowledge (I'm in no way advocating torture here btw).

If Jack Bauer wants his actions exposed to the public, they should be exposed to the public. After all, the Republican Party has told me that I should believe everything Jack does on his awesome tv show, right?

[Balta1701]

Obama considering Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) as his commerce Secretary.

 

New Hampshire has a Democratic governor.

[BigSqwert]

Wouldn't that give the Dems a 60 seat majority?

[Balta1701]

Wouldn't that give the Dems a 60 seat majority?

Yup.

[bmags]

You think that will actually happen though? That's some hardball.

[Balta1701]

You think that will actually happen though? That's some hardball.

So is extracting concessions from the President in exchange for zero votes.

[bmags]

Yes, their suicide is fun to watch, that said, I don't think Obama will do it. You think the republicans are happy they didn't eliminate the filibuster now? It's poor showing, I think, to do what we are saying.

[Balta1701]

We still don't know how it's going to play out, but here's a worthy primer on what exactly Daschle's tax transgressions appear to be.

Looking at a range of news reports, there are several different charges out there, each of varying degrees of seriousness. So -- leaving aside the real-world question of which of these charges might be the most politically damaging to Daschle's nomination -- it's worth taking stock of what exactly the former Senate leader stand accused of. And of how, at least initially, might we rate the seriousness of each individual misdeed.

 

Let's run down the list:

 

 

1. The most serious charge -- which comes from a report conducted for the Senate Finance committee, which is handling Daschle's nomination -- is that from 2005 to 2007, he failed to report on his taxes income from the use of a limousine and driver totaling over $255,000, and provided by InterMedia Advisors LLP, a private-equity firm. On January 2, Daschle, having concluded that he owed the money, filed amended returns and paid more than $140,000 in back taxes and interest.

 

InterMedia, whose advisory board Daschle chairs, was founded in 2005 by Leo Hindery, a politically connected media and telecommunications executive (with an apparent record of embellishing his personal story). Hindery gave at least $42,000 to Mr. Daschle from 1997 to 2004.

 

Daschle told the committee that he realized last June that the limo service might count as taxable income, and asked his accountant to look into it. A Daschle spokeswoman said the accountant didn't come back to Daschle until late December or early January with a finding that the taxes were owed. Only then did Daschle inform the Obama transition team. "He thought his accountant was taking care of it," the spokeswoman told a reporter.

 

 

2. The Finance committee is also probing a second potential tax impropriety stemming from Daschle's relationship with InterMedia. The committee says he failed to report on his 2007 tax return consulting income from the company of $83,333.

 

But this one appears to be an oversight, if a careless one. According to the committee report, Daschle received that sum per month (or a $1 million a year) from InterMedia under the consulting arrangement. InterMedia left off one monthly payment -- the one for May 2007 -- from the annual statement of income it sent Daschle. The error occurred because the InterMedia staffer normally responsible for reporting such payments was on maternity leave, according to the committee. All the other months were accounted for.

 

 

3. The issue that almost certainly has the greatest relevance for Daschle's desired new job as HHS Secretary is his work on behalf of healthcare-industry interests.

 

In his financial disclosure statement, Daschle reported getting paid more than $390,000 for giving speeches to groups including America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), a trade organization representing health insurers. He also got nearly $100,000 from health-related companies affected by federal regulation, including more than $5000 (again, the exact figure wasn't reported) for giving "policy advice" to the insurer UnitedHealth.

 

 

4. The committee is also probing Daschle's ties to Educap -- a student loan company that paid Daschle over $5,000 for "policy advice," according to his financial disclosure report. (The exact amount wasn't disclosed).

 

The inquiry is focused on whether "travel and entertainment services" given to Daschle by Educap and several related entities should have been reported as income. At issue, it appears, are two trips Daschle took on EduCap's corporate jet, one to the Bahamas, the other to the Middle East, to speak with members of the board of directors of a related organization. On the latter trip, Daschle and his traveling companions met with King Abdullah of Jordan, and Israeli minister Ehud Barack, according to the Daschle spokeswoman.

 

In addition, Daschle has worked during the last few years for Alston & Bird, the high-powered DC law and lobbying firm, which was registered as a lobbyist for EduCap. Some on the committee have suggested that Daschle should himself have registered as a lobbyist for Educap.

 

So what should we make of all this?

 

Individually, each charge -- with the exception, perhaps of the until-recently-unpaid taxes on the InterMedia car and driver -- might be seen as not much more than business as usual for a former Congressional leader who has slipped through Washington's revolving door to offer his contacts and expertise to private interests. But cumulatively, they paint a picture of a Washington insider who, at best, has grown negligent about tracking the various forms of compensation he's receiving.

 

Perhaps more important, Daschle's coziness with corporate interests, many of whom will have key business before Congress and the Obama administration, could complicate the larger task of reducing the influence of the private sector in Washington.

[NorthSideSox72]

Daschle, like Geithner, shouldn't pass confirmation. Neither deserve the posts they were nominated to. Unfortunately, both will make it in. Not only is this a mistake from a right/wrong perspective IMO, but it is yet another bit of political damage that Obama has elected to take on, when he easily could have found other qualified candidates who don't have this baggage. He is throwing away small bits of his political capital in supporting these guys, and I can see no logical reason to do so. Daschle may have helped with the campaign, but he certainly wasn't a difference-maker in it. Geithner bought Obama nothing. So WTF?

 

 

[BigSqwert]

Daschle, like Geithner, shouldn't pass confirmation. Neither deserve the posts they were nominated to. Unfortunately, both will make it in. Not only is this a mistake from a right/wrong perspective IMO, but it is yet another bit of political damage that Obama has elected to take on, when he easily could have found other qualified candidates who don't have this baggage. He is throwing away small bits of his political capital in supporting these guys, and I can see no logical reason to do so. Daschle may have helped with the campaign, but he certainly wasn't a difference-maker in it. Geithner bought Obama nothing. So WTF?

^^^^

[StrangeSox]

Daschle, like Geithner, shouldn't pass confirmation. Neither deserve the posts they were nominated to. Unfortunately, both will make it in. Not only is this a mistake from a right/wrong perspective IMO, but it is yet another bit of political damage that Obama has elected to take on, when he easily could have found other qualified candidates who don't have this baggage. He is throwing away small bits of his political capital in supporting these guys, and I can see no logical reason to do so. Daschle may have helped with the campaign, but he certainly wasn't a difference-maker in it. Geithner bought Obama nothing. So WTF?

 

He's giving his opponents an awful lot of ammunition right off the bat.

[southsider2k5]

Daschle, like Geithner, shouldn't pass confirmation. Neither deserve the posts they were nominated to. Unfortunately, both will make it in. Not only is this a mistake from a right/wrong perspective IMO, but it is yet another bit of political damage that Obama has elected to take on, when he easily could have found other qualified candidates who don't have this baggage. He is throwing away small bits of his political capital in supporting these guys, and I can see no logical reason to do so. Daschle may have helped with the campaign, but he certainly wasn't a difference-maker in it. Geithner bought Obama nothing. So WTF?

 

I love how Obama can vilify an entire industry for the bonuses and perks they are getting, but then can go out and hire tax cheats and people engaged in pay for play to be in his cabinet. Wall Street supposedly doing this because it doesn't get it, what does that make Obama?

[Balta1701]

I love how Obama can vilify an entire industry for the bonuses and perks they are getting, but then can go out and hire tax cheats and people engaged in pay for play to be in his cabinet. Wall Street supposedly doing this because it doesn't get it, what does that make Obama?

I'll still say I can buy Geithner's mistake as a potentially honest mistake, that he may just not have understood/read the memo from the IMF saying that they weren't withholding any of the Social Security/Medicare taxes, including the business-paid portion. That's a fairly weird setup they have there, so I can live with that.

 

Daschle's "Mistake" here just strikes me as more insidious. Not only did he make the mistake, but he made the mistake on something that appears to have almost been a favor to him by something approaching a lobbying organization. And he made that mistake because he was used to riding in a private vehicle from his time in Congress and not having to pay for it? Doesn't the former Senate Majority Leader deal with the occasional accountant?