Tom Daschle has serious issues with taxes.

Seems Senator Tom Daschle has got issues. Big Issues. 😮

ABC News has learned that the nomination of former Senator Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., to be President Obama’s secretary of health and human services has hit a traffic snarl on its way through the Senate Finance Committee.

The controversy deals with a car and driver lent to Daschle by a wealthy Democratic friend — a chauffeur service the former senator used for years without declaring it on his taxes.

It remains an open question as to whether this is a “speed bump,” as a Democratic Senate ally of Daschle put it, or something more damaging.

via Political Punch: Bumps in the Road: Obama’s HHS Secretary Nominee Faces Tax Questions Over Car and Driver.

I saw this last night and I thought, “Okay, no big deal.” But then I read about this:

Via Jack Tapper:

ABC News has obtained the Senate Finance Committee Report on Tom Daschle’s nomination to be Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, which indicates that Daschle’s tax problems were even more substantial than earlier reported.

The report indicates that Daschle’s failure to pay more than $101,000 taxes on the car and driver a wealthy friend let him use from 2005 through 2007 is not the only tax issue the former Senate Majority Leader has been dealing with since his December nomination prompted a more thorough examination of his income tax returns.

Mr. Daschle also didn’t report $83,333 in consulting income in 2007.

The Senate Finance Committee Report also notes that during the vetting process, President Obama’s Transition Team “identified certain donations that did not qualify as charitable deductions because they were not paid to qualifying organizations.  Daschle adjusted his contribution deductions on his amended returns for 2005, 2006 and 2007 to remove these amounts and add additional contributions.” This adjustment meant a reduction in the amount he contributed to charitable foundations of $14,963 from 2005 through 2007. With the unreported income from the use of a car service in the amounts of $73,031 in 2005, $89,129 in 2006 and $93,096 in 2007; the unreported consulting income of $83,333 in 2007; and the adjusted reductions in charitable contributions, Daschle adds a total of $353,552 in additional income and reduced donations, meaning an additional tax payment of $128,203, in addition to $11,964 in interest.

On January 2 of this year, Daschle filed amended tax returns to pay the $140,167 in unpaid taxes.

Oy Vey… Good luck in getting confirmed dude. I mean, not to sound crass, but; how the fuck can you forget to pay your damn taxes? It must be nice to have so much money that you cannot remember how much you have, so you can pay your taxes! I mean, I’ve got 43 bucks and some change (Not hope and change!) in my account, luckily for me, I’ve been out of work so damned long that I do not have to pay income taxes this yet. I even called to make damned sure too; anyhow, I’m just saying man, how can someone forget? Just does not make any damned sense.

Of course, if this blog takes off; I might have to start paying taxes on the income and register a business name and all. But I’m nowhere near that level, yet. I’m getting decent hits, but zero income. I mean, 10 bucks here, 3 bucks there. But nothing huge, yet.  It takes time, I suppose.

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