Dashed

This is a direct lift from response in a Politico column. I could not have put it better.

“A heartfelt ‘sorry’ is more than sufficient when you’re a former Senate majority leader, have loads of friends on both sides in the Senate and played a critical role in the president’s nomination victory, thereby securing his undying loyalty. Besides, when are average people going to learn that the powerful are too busy doing great things to obey the laws that apply to the peons? The good news for non-elites is that when the IRS contacts us about tax questions, we can just cite the cases of Tom Daschle and Tim Geithner, and the agency will be patient and understanding. Right?”

This, from a Los Angeles Times blog's not bad, either:

Obama backs Daschle, who apologizes to a public that hates tax cheats...He used what's come to be known as the GID tactic, the Geithner Inadvertency Defense. It was all an accident. "No excuse," he says. But inadvertent. Which makes it OK. Let's all try that on April 15.

Ironically, I actually can believe that Daschle didn't know that the use of the car and driver was taxable income, or, if he did, that he assumed that it was taken care of in his taxes by his accountant. What I can't forgive is that he didn't mention any of this until after he was nominated. Sloppy at best, sleazy at worst. I think that what really makes it stick in my craw, though, is the sense that he'll pay a fine that he can easily afford and get away with it, because of the money he has and the friends he has - courtesies that I'd never get from the IRS. That's not right. I guess I can't say chuck him if he really is the best person available -- but it's what I want to say.