Daschle withdraws as nominee for HHS secretary

Breitbart.com

WASHINGTON (AP) - Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination on Tuesday to be President Barack Obama's Health and Human Services secretary, dealing potential blows to both speedy health care reform and Obama's hopes for a smoother start as president.

"Now we must move forward," Obama said in a written statement accepting "with sadness and regret" Daschle's surprise request to be removed from consideration. A day earlier, Obama had said he "absolutely" stood by Daschle in the face of problems over back taxes and potential conflicts of interest.

Daschle, the former Senate Democratic leader and a strong backer of Obama's presidential bid, said he would have been unable to operate "with the full faith of Congress and the American people."

"I am not that leader, and will not be a distraction" to Obama's agenda, he said. [Full story]

HH's take:
Obama has been in office for only a couple of weeks and has already increased tax receipts at the U.S. Treasury with a rather ingenious plan to get tax-dodgers to pay up.

He nominates wealthy individuals (who have knowingly filed inaccurate tax forms, cheating the government out of "mucho" dollars) for positions in his cabinet. They then get out their checkbooks and pay their back taxes (without penalty and interest, of course). Well what do you expect? They are elitists. But, hey, the government gets what is "rightly owed" them.

Slick, huh?

Chuckle. Chuckle. Another tax dodger goes scurrying into the night:
Obama performance chief Killefer out, citing taxes.