Tom Daschle Faces More Tax Issues As Questions Arise Over Trips with Charities

Tom Daschle with wife Linda Daschle in background, Getty Images

Sorry, but former Sen. Tom Daschle should not be confirmed as our next Health and Human Services Secretary. He is already facing questions over his failure to pay some of his taxes in a timely fashion, but now comes another question -- whether he improperly took gifts of value from charities with which he was involved. The man is toxic at this point and it is simply not worth the headache to confirm him. The charities involved in this latest dustup are EduCap Inc., Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation, Academy Achievement and Loan to Learn. The Finance Committee staff is reviewing whether travel and entertainment services provided to the Daschles by these charities should be reported as income.

People familiar with Mr. Daschle's case said the question involves two flights he took aboard EduCap's corporate jet to vacation destinations to speak with members of the board of directors of the Academy of Achievement, a related organization. In February 2006, Mr. Daschle flew to the academy's annual retreat in the Bahamas. The next month, he flew with academy officials to Jordan, Egypt and Israel to scout out sites for the group's international awards ceremony. While there, the delegation met with Jordan's King Abdullah and Israeli minister Ehud Barack, said Daschle spokesman Jenny Backus. Source: Wall Street Journal

There is a slight problem with that. Under federal tax law, which Daschle should be well aware, individuals involved with a charity are not allowed to take anything of personal value. So, EduCap issue aside, Mr. Daschle is facing some other tax issues that do not portray him positively. These issues involve: access to a car and driver provided by private-equity firm InterMedia Advisors LLP, valued at $255,256, that went unreported on his taxes between 2005 and 2007; $83,333 in consulting-service income from InterMedia that went unreported in 2007; and improper deductions for contributions to a foster-care charity. Mr. Daschle paid $140,167 in late tax and interest payments on Jan. 2, after Mr. Obama nominated him. That is simply not good enough.

One has to wonder if he would have bothered to pay the money had he not been up for nomination for this position. Some have said that this is will not derail his bid for the position, but it should. The money involved pales in comparison to Timothy Geithner's tax problems. Some Republicans called on Mr. Geithner to withdraw his nomination, but I have yet to hear one Republican senator do the same. Is there a brotherhood in the Senate that ignores serious lapses in judgment of one of their own?