Daschle Withdraws

Dwayne Horner | February 03, 2009 12:53 PM

Former Senator Tom Daschle has withdrawn his name from nomination to be the Health and Human Services Secretary in the Obama Administration.

With the New York Times

scrutinizing the Obama Administration's desire to have an ethical cabinet (even though they cannot seem to pay their taxes) and their editorial asking Daschle to step aside, there is yet another sign that the honeymoon is over for the new President.

"When President Obama nominated former Senator Tom Daschle to be his secretary of health and human services, it seemed to be a good choice...unfortunately, new facts have come to light — involving his failure to pay substantial taxes that were owed and his sizable income from health-related companies while he worked in the private sector — that call into question his suitability for the job."

OUCH. You know it had to cause a lot of heartburn in New York for them to condemn any decision their man has made, especially in the first 100 days.

But the editorial wasn't the first salvo thrown Obama's way, writes Peter Baker on Monday "During almost two years on the campaign trail, Barack Obama vowed to slay the demons of Washington, bar lobbyists from his administration and usher in what he would later call in his Inaugural Address a “new era of responsibility.” What he did not talk much about were the asterisks." Baker went on to say "The exceptions that went unmentioned now include a pair of cabinet nominees who did not pay all of their taxes. Then there is the lobbyist for a military contractor who is now slated to become the No. 2 official in the Pentagon. And there are the others brought into government from the influence industry even if not formally registered as lobbyists."

According to the Obama Administration, the new president was "absolutely" standing behind Sen. Daschle. Apparently, ethics and absolutely have new defenitions in Washington.

UPDATE: The story here...

QUESTION: Is Daschle Obama's Zoe Baird? And why did it take several appointees with similar problems to get to this point?