Tax trouble plagues Obama nominees

Former Sen. Tom Daschle is just the kind of nominee you'd never think would have trouble getting confirmed by the Senate. He was popular, a former majority leader and a sympathetic figure to dominant Democrats because he had been targeted by President Bush in 2004 and knocked off in his bid for re-election. But Daschle withdrew his name from nomination to be secretary of Health and Human Services Tuesday after his troubles with taxes were revealed. Daschle's withdrawal came the same day that President Obama's nominee for the new position of chief performance officer, Nancy Killefer, also withdrew her name after an embarrassing revelation about failure to pay unemployment taxes on hired help.

Don't rich Democrats believe in paying taxes? Daschle and Killefer withdrew, but Treasury nominee Timothy Geitner rode out the controversy over his failure to pay all of his taxes. One tax snafu might be forgettable and forgivable, but a series of them leaves a lasting impression. Daschle had failed to pay taxes on the use of a limousine. The IRS considers that income. Daschle didn't think so, but now he admits he was wrong. Killefer had failed to pay taxes on a household employee. Geitner belatedly paid $34,000 in back taxes. What is it with these people?

Obama has promised to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans. His Cabinet nominees fit in that category. But some of these high-income Americans aren't paying the taxes they owe now under the Republican tax cuts Obama and other Democrats have been criticizing for years.

When his nomination was announced, Daschle sounded like the perfect nominee for HHS. He had been a health care leader in the Senate, and he had worked after his election defeat in advocating for universal health insurance. It turns out that Daschle, although not a registered lobbyist, made $5 million over the last four years working, essentially, as a lobbyist in Washington. I'd be happy to lose a Senate election for that kind of consolation prize. That plum job and his and other nominees' tax troubles bolster the impression that high government officials live in a different world.

After beginning his administration in admirable fashion, Obama now must backpedal to regain the high road and reassure voters that all Americans are not only created equal but are treated equal by tax laws and lobbying rules.