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Tom Daschle and the Populist Revolt
Tom Daschle's surprise withdrawal today shocked most Washington insiders -- after all, Daschle had been a key figure in the Senate, was Obama's pick for a major role in the new administration, would very likely have done a superb job getting a new health-insurance system enacted, and, probably could have mustered enough votes to be confirmed. So what happened? My guess is that official Washington underestimated the public's pique at what appeared to be the old ways of Washington. Hill staffers tell me that many offices have been inundated with telephone calls, emails, letters and faxes expressing concern (to put it mildly) about Daschle -- not only his failure to pay back taxes but his relationships with major players in the health care industry and rich consulting contracts with the private sector since leaving the Senate, and even the fact that he was given a car and driver by one of them.
What's going on here? Maybe official Washington, much like most of Wall Street, is still not quite getting it.
Typical Americans are hurting very badly right now. They resent people who appear to be living high off a system dominated by insiders with the right connections. They've become increasingly suspicious of the conflicts of interest, cozy relationships, and payoffs that seem to pervade not only official Washington but our biggest banks and corporations. In short, many Americans who have worked hard, saved as much as they can, bought a home, obeyed the law, and paid every cent of taxes that were due are beginning to feel like chumps. Their jobs are disappearing, their savings are disappearing, their homes are worth far less than they thought they were, their tax bills are as high as ever if not higher.
Meanwhile, people at the top seem to be living far different lives in a different universe. They're the executives and traders on Wall Street who have lived like kings for years off a bubble of their own making while ripping off small investors, the financial louts who are now taking hundreds of billions of taxpayer bailout money while awarding themselves huge bonuses and throwing lavish parties, the corporate CEOs who are earning seven figures while laying off thousands of workers, the billionaire hedge-fund and private-equity managers who are paying a marginal tax rate of 15 percent on what they say are capital gains while people who earn a fraction of that are paying a higher rate, and, not the least, the Washington insiders who have served on the Hill or in an administration and then gone on to pocket millions as lobbyists for the same companies they once regulated or subsidized. To the American who's outside the power centers -- the places of entitlement and I'll-scratch-your-back-while-you-scratch-mine deal making -- the entire system seems rotten.
I'm sorry Tom Daschle won't be in the Obama administration. He would have served the public well and with distinction. But the public wants change, real change, big change. There's no tolerance any longer for the way things used to be done.
Typical Americans are hurting very badly right now. They resent people who appear to be living high off a system dominated by insiders with the right connections. They've become increasingly suspicious of the conflicts of interest, cozy relationships, and payoffs that seem to pervade not only official Washington but our biggest banks and corporations. In short, many Americans who have worked hard, saved as much as they can, bought a home, obeyed the law, and paid every cent of taxes that were due are beginning to feel like chumps. Their jobs are disappearing, their savings are disappearing, their homes are worth far less than they thought they were, their tax bills are as high as ever if not higher -- but people at the top seem to be living far different lives in a different universe. They're the executives and traders on Wall Street have lived like kings for years off a bubble of their own making while ripping off small investors, the financial louts who are now taking hundreds of billions of taxpayer bailout money while awarding themselves huge bonuses and throwing lavish parties, the corporate CEOs who are earning seven figures while laying off thousands of workers, the billionaire hedge-fund and private-equity managers who are paying a marginal tax rate of 15 percent on what they say are capital gains while people who earn a fraction of that are paying a higher rate, and, not the least, the Washington insiders who have served on the Hill or in an administration and then gone on to pocket millions as lobbyists for the same companies they once regulated or subsidized. To the American who's outside the power centers -- the places of entitlement and I'll-scratch-your-back-while-you-scratch-mine deal making -- the entire system seems rotten.
I'm sorry Tom Daschle won't be in the Obama administration. He would have served the public well and with distinction. But the public wants change, real change, big change. There's no tolerance any longer for the way things used to be done.
What's going on here? Maybe official Washington, much like most of Wall Street, is still not quite getting it.
Typical Americans are hurting very badly right now. They resent people who appear to be living high off a system dominated by insiders with the right connections. They've become increasingly suspicious of the conflicts of interest, cozy relationships, and payoffs that seem to pervade not only official Washington but our biggest banks and corporations. In short, many Americans who have worked hard, saved as much as they can, bought a home, obeyed the law, and paid every cent of taxes that were due are beginning to feel like chumps. Their jobs are disappearing, their savings are disappearing, their homes are worth far less than they thought they were, their tax bills are as high as ever if not higher.
Meanwhile, people at the top seem to be living far different lives in a different universe. They're the executives and traders on Wall Street who have lived like kings for years off a bubble of their own making while ripping off small investors, the financial louts who are now taking hundreds of billions of taxpayer bailout money while awarding themselves huge bonuses and throwing lavish parties, the corporate CEOs who are earning seven figures while laying off thousands of workers, the billionaire hedge-fund and private-equity managers who are paying a marginal tax rate of 15 percent on what they say are capital gains while people who earn a fraction of that are paying a higher rate, and, not the least, the Washington insiders who have served on the Hill or in an administration and then gone on to pocket millions as lobbyists for the same companies they once regulated or subsidized. To the American who's outside the power centers -- the places of entitlement and I'll-scratch-your-back-while-you-scratch-mine deal making -- the entire system seems rotten.
I'm sorry Tom Daschle won't be in the Obama administration. He would have served the public well and with distinction. But the public wants change, real change, big change. There's no tolerance any longer for the way things used to be done.
Typical Americans are hurting very badly right now. They resent people who appear to be living high off a system dominated by insiders with the right connections. They've become increasingly suspicious of the conflicts of interest, cozy relationships, and payoffs that seem to pervade not only official Washington but our biggest banks and corporations. In short, many Americans who have worked hard, saved as much as they can, bought a home, obeyed the law, and paid every cent of taxes that were due are beginning to feel like chumps. Their jobs are disappearing, their savings are disappearing, their homes are worth far less than they thought they were, their tax bills are as high as ever if not higher -- but people at the top seem to be living far different lives in a different universe. They're the executives and traders on Wall Street have lived like kings for years off a bubble of their own making while ripping off small investors, the financial louts who are now taking hundreds of billions of taxpayer bailout money while awarding themselves huge bonuses and throwing lavish parties, the corporate CEOs who are earning seven figures while laying off thousands of workers, the billionaire hedge-fund and private-equity managers who are paying a marginal tax rate of 15 percent on what they say are capital gains while people who earn a fraction of that are paying a higher rate, and, not the least, the Washington insiders who have served on the Hill or in an administration and then gone on to pocket millions as lobbyists for the same companies they once regulated or subsidized. To the American who's outside the power centers -- the places of entitlement and I'll-scratch-your-back-while-you-scratch-mine deal making -- the entire system seems rotten.
I'm sorry Tom Daschle won't be in the Obama administration. He would have served the public well and with distinction. But the public wants change, real change, big change. There's no tolerance any longer for the way things used to be done.
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What's going on here? Maybe official Washington, much like most of Wall Street, is still not quite getting it.
Precisely. And these beltway insiders need to start paying attention to what side they are on. I sincerely hope we manage to right the economic ship and get through the storm. But if the vessel swamps and starts to sink, you don't want to be seen as an apologist for greedy fat-catism when they come with the guillotines, figuratively or literally.
February 3, 2009 4:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Beltway insiders"? Who asked for Daschle?
Barak Obama.
Perhaps, in all honesty, we should be saying:
"Maybe Barak Obama is still not quite getting it."
*ding! we have a winner. If and when Obama tries to find a "middle ground" with the health care industry, he will fail.
There is no middle ground. They must go. Single payer must come. Viva HR 676!!
February 3, 2009 11:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think his cozy relations with health care industry leaders would make it impossible for him to do the job right, so I'm not sorry to see him go.
February 3, 2009 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
The time has come the walrus said. There is an outstanding candidate with incredible credentials and a record of success second to none for the position at HHS. Sometimes one has to use the stick rather than the carrot. When President Obama announces his nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services I hope to hear the words I had hoped for as his first choice. Howard Dean.
When I hear talk that that there is no one who has the record of success and the integrity I cannot help but ask what about Howard Dean. I think that when you have someone familiar with the health care systems in two countries. Dean's record of accomplishment and integrity is well known I cannot help but wonder about why Howard Dean isn't mentioned. I have always been an Obama fan from the time he was my State Senator but I cannot fathom how an obvious choice is not the choice being made.
February 3, 2009 4:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
I second that proposal, however thee way Dean left the DNC, without so much as a fair the well from Obama, and then the DNC doing away with his 50 state strategy indicates, to me at least, he's not held in high esteem by Obama or Emanuel.
February 3, 2009 5:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rahm is pissed because his strategy in 2006 [put up DINOs; reject progressive candidates] was both a loser then and was shown to be bankrupt by Dean's 50 state strategy in 2008.
You can be that Rahm isn't going to be letting Dean's name even be whispered in Obama's presence.
My disappointment in Obama grows daily. But he cares not for his "base," only those Republicans.
February 3, 2009 6:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
I just need to tell you that I love your avatar.
February 3, 2009 8:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
And here's a third. Let's start a movement, eh?
While I allowed more than the usual emotions to show in my enthusiasm for an Obama presidency, it's been strongly tempered by their shunning of Dean. They owe as much of their success to him as they do to the Republican/Neocon meltdown. To turn their back on that, and Dean's earlier success in 2004, is not a good omen.
So what can we do? Let's get this train runnin'.
February 3, 2009 6:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
You can join the Facebook group! Already 916 members
February 3, 2009 6:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, one reason Dean's name might not be mentioned is because he is about as popular as the bubonic plague among the insider crowd in Washington, DC and that goes for BOTH parties. The Democratic insiders probably hate him more than the Republicans simply because when he does the right things and talks like a Democrat and actually goes to bat for the issues people care about it shames all those whores who long ago gave up even the pretense of trying to represent the interests of the people so they could fatten their wallets and feed at the public trough like the rest of the prostitutes there.
February 3, 2009 8:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hate to agree, but you're right. As much as I love Howard Dean and think he deserves much, much better from both Obama and the Democratic Party, he is for whatever reason not a popular guy among the DC insider clique, which includes everyone in the House and Senate. Do I think Howard Dean would advocate for the very best solution for healthcare? Absolutely. And everyone would vote against it. Which is why Obama didn't pick him the first time around, and won't pick him now.
I really don't get the Dean animosity at all, but it's there and it would be a major obstacle in what's going to be a huge battle even without additional obstacles. So in that regard, he unfortunately is not the best man for the job.
February 3, 2009 8:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jenn, open your eyes and you will not like what you see. The animosity toward Howard Dean from the insiders is for the very reasons you and I like him: he would work for all the things the people want. The insiders don't want to help us little people. They want to help themselves.
February 3, 2009 8:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Word, Oleeb.
I wish it were not so.
BTW, I heard Mr. Reich will be on NPR tomorrow. I am looking forward to it.
February 3, 2009 9:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the heads up!
February 3, 2009 10:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
I sense a groundswell coming from We the People, crying out for single payer health care, justice, ethics, honesty. And nothing less will satisfy us.
Thanks for your post which confirms my own sense that things have gone too far from our nation's ideals, from the Rule of Law, from things like health care that should be human rights - not insurance!
I for one was thrilled with this morning's NY Times editorial. And, sad as it is to see a man leave DC in shame, we simply can't go on as things have been.
Many more people need to hang their heads in shame, for having let down the citizenry, to feather their nests and help their cronies, while leaving the people in the lurch.
February 3, 2009 4:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well put!
Say, how about Robert Reich as another name of a Democrat who hasn't sold out and actually cares about the people?
February 3, 2009 8:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Amen, oleeb. Amen!
February 3, 2009 8:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
DITTO
February 3, 2009 8:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
I Love you guys and hate to be a wet blanket, but...
"The entire system seems rotten" "Seems"??? Seems rotten? Hello! Mr. Reich always diagnoses the problems correctly, but when it comes to solutions? Not much. Daschle was a light weight get-a-longer terrible majority leader. I'm a voice snob and his soft little high pitched whimpers never got us anywhere. So why would he be able to make the radical changes to health care that we need? He wouldn't. He'd plead and bargain and run around town with his beauty queen lobbyist wife. And he'd run out the clock. And nothing would happen. It's like watching a Restoration Comedy with fops and wigs and beauty marks and lots of fans snapping. "Oh do tell, Lord Dashing Daschle, where were you and Lady Daschle dining last night?" "Oh, Master Matthews, I was with the Greenspans at Nola's", don't you know."
I like Robert Reich, but we need a tough ass kicking Tom Paine or a determined Jefferson type who, by the way, called Paine back from France to help him fight the aristocrats/Hamiltonians.
No, the system doesn't seem rotten to us, Robert. It is beyond rotten. It is larval fascism about to hatch.
February 3, 2009 10:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well you certainly have pegged the situation in DC right on the money as it were. But Lord Obama's powdered wig presents a problem too don't you think? The courtiers have been blowing sweet smelling smoke up his ass for a couple of years now and they have had almost exclusive access to him since long before the coronation, I mean inauguration. I think he's sincere but captive at this point. He's also a very cautious/timid leader who doesn't like controversey. That doesn't give me lots of confidence he's going to step up to the plate FDR style and announce that it's time for a New Deal.
I don't think he has been completely and iredeemably absorbed and made into one of the villagers but he certainly has been seduced. Unless Obama gets a real blow to the solar plexis that brings him out of that "postpartisan" daze he's in, we could have all the Jeffersons in the world waiting in the wings, he wouldn't appoint him and that is the biggest problem of all.
I think that as with the question of the invasion of Iraq, and with the transparent wrongness of the Patriot Act, torture and all the other issues on which the left was correct while the wishy washy centrists were dead wrong, the villagers including Obama himself really do not grasp how the game has already changed. They don't realize how many people are at the boiling point and won't put up with much more of this crap. They don't realize that change is happening without them and if they don't get ahead of the curve of change they are going to get washed away along with the Republicans.
February 3, 2009 11:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think that is the sentiment beginning to take hold. The shine is gone, and now we want to see some meat on our plate (pardon me vegetarians). There will be no New Deal. Obama has thrown together not a "team of rivals," as many have squawked about, because their politics are so centrist, hawkish and weak that what do they really have to rival each other on (with the exception of Hilda Solis). Obama is now backing off EFCA, claiming we need something "more elegant", which simply means that all those feeding at the corporate welfare TARP trough are turning right around and crying socialism when working folks want higher wages and benefits. The dems lard up the stimulus bill with a lot of waste and bitch that reps won't get on board after obama threw them a cocktail party. If we were going to see a real New Deal, they would have put together a stimulus package that centered around things like the WPA and TVA and actually fixing the mortgage problem and then steamrolled it through, no second thoughts. As was mentioned on olberman the other night, asking republicans to craft a stimulus bill is like asking quakers to plan your war strategy. It turns out the the change that obama was talking about is just that everyone plays nice and shares their toys in the sandbox. I guess it's important to remember that when FDR came in, he wasn't that progressive either. It took folks like Walter Reuther to make him turn sharply to the left.
February 4, 2009 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
2 Years since Daschle left the Senate. $5 million in income during that time, "working" as a "lobbyist." $200k of that money from health care industry, along with a car & driver.
What is there about his picture that makes it hard to understand my unease with this appointment?
I have been an admirer of Daschle his entire career in the Senate. And I'm sorry to see him fall victim to the revolving door in Washington, but only because it saddens me that he didn't have the integrity of character I thought he had.
Obama said absolutely the right thing with his Exec. Orders that limited his Administration's involvement with the revolving door. Perhaps he, you, and others will now understand just how important it is to take it seriously. Yes, we are fed up with our elected Representatives and their staff dining on K Street while Main Street ultimately pays the bill.
February 3, 2009 5:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, you see, after all those years in the Senate, Tommy boy decided that it was time he went out and earned some money for himself and his family. "Earned?" By cashing in on all his connections, by lobbying, by opening doors for his corporate clients. Man, that's a whole, parallel universe that Tom and his buddies live in!
Of course neither you nor I have the opportunity to go out and earn $5 million dollars in two years just by being good 'ol Tom. "Earned"?? If he wanted to earn some income, he might have tried farming and working his butt off growing organic crops and marketing them. But them thar sleazy Washington types don't want nothin' to do with real work.
Some days I think we should indeed follow Jefferson's advice and have a real revolution every 40 or 50 years. Sweep them bastards out of Washington and start all over.
February 3, 2009 7:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let us not forget that his wife was already a lobbyist long before he was defeated and had to leave the Senate. He was already trading heavily off his connections via his wife. I suspect one of the reason he was such an ineffective majority leader in the Senate was treading lightly in areas that would upset his wife's clients. It's been many, many a year since ol Daschle has had to wonder where his next meal was coming from you can be sure of that.
February 3, 2009 8:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Precisely. So can someone please stop Wells Fargo from partying in Vegas with our money? (Link below...)
Yesterday, President Obama said some banks AREN'T going to make. I think he should very publicly notify every bank: Next group that takes a holiday romp with Bailout Funds, must be immediately $hitcanned. And you're whole bank is now on the short list of places that "won't make it."
BTW - It's time to bring back public shaming rituals. Bernie Madoff, for one, should be wearing a pink jumpsuit in a maximum security prsion, rather than his silk jammys in his living room.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/03/bailedout-wells-fargo-pla_n_163645.html
February 3, 2009 5:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, well putting food on the table and keeping a roof over our heads is part of OUR "culture," you asshat!
Now, one of these two "cultural" pursuits is a luxury while one of them ain't. You probably better figure out which is which before you finally discover that you have a full-blown populist revolt on your hands.
Bankers in Vegas as part of their culture, fer chrissakes. What? They ain't happy having brought casino gambling to Wall Street? They gotta' make annual pilgrimage to the Wall Street equivalent of Mecca? What?
February 3, 2009 5:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've been happy at various jobs if my team just gets donuts once a week. Maybe a t-shirt now and then... These Wells Fargo people are getting obliterated at the HardRock's ReHab Party with our money.
February 3, 2009 7:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
great comment about Wells Fargo going to Vegas and banks having broken the 'bank' by bringing casino capitalism to its absurd conclusion and the nation to its knees
I thought I saw Madam DeFarge knitting in the town square today
I really love being able to read Reich's blog, lovin me some intertubes
February 4, 2009 12:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
I hate to be alarmist, or even give the impression I agree with the statements I'm about to make, but:
Isn't it odd the civil reaction the American public has had towards Wells Fargo, Citgroup, BofA, etc, squandering funds? I mean there aren't stories of mass mobs swarming the financial districts like the Bastille. No random lynchings of innocent corporate-types leaving their Wallstreet offices.
Instead people are making phones, and demanding accountability. And once more, the media is actually covering it on the TV. "Right there on the TV," as Randi Rhodes would say. CNN, Faux News, MSNBC, etc are calling those companies out. (Except for CNBC. It appears they have a soft spot for the financial cronyism -- a "populist misunderstanding" as Erin Burnett has intimated.)
It's nice to know that despite the dire straits this country is in, we still utilize civility to air our discontent.
February 3, 2009 7:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
califone: This weekend on NPR's website (link below) Joe Stiglitz thinks we'll see more and more anger spill into the streets. I'd LOVE to see that happen. People in France riot over possibly losing a holiday. We need to reclaim that spirit.
I think we're afraid b/c of the debt they keep us in. Slaves to the FICO score. We're much less likely to put ourselves & our families on the line if we're afraid of losing our jobs and missing the mortgage/credit card payments or (worse) losing our access to Health Care... [Michael Moore makes a point like this in SiCKO.]
Reich discusses the decline of citizenship in his book $upercapitalism. I think our lack of marching through the streets is directly related to the ratrace / treadmill we're on.
NPR: "Europe's Economic Protests May Be Contagious" http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100029099
February 3, 2009 7:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hear! Hear!
If people were in the streets and up in arms over this whole catastrophe I can guarantee you the talk about what they need to do about it all would be qualitatively different and the solutions would not be "give more money to the banks." Until we are out in the streets they will figure that it's still business as usual and they'll keep on screwing us every day in every way.
February 3, 2009 8:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes! In the Tony Benn interview. That's one of the best interviews I've ever seen and I think about it often.
February 3, 2009 8:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh yeah, Tony Benn! Thanks Hilary... (My theater burst out into applause at the end of his interview...)
TARP proved him right. There was money out there is our priorities were right. If we *wanted* to find the money for Universal Health Care, we could have *found* the same $700B dollars we used on TARP.
February 3, 2009 8:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
cheers. another reason for this decline in civics 101 is the total reaming the labor movement has been getting for the last thirty years. no offence to prof. reich, as i'm sure his hands were as tied as anyone's while clinton partook of the free trade corporate golden shower. but when people's work is directly tied to politics (both local and national) they are much more willing, ready, and able to take to the streets. when you train folks on picket lines to tell their bosses what's up, they are more likely to do the same to their elected representatives.
February 4, 2009 1:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
We'd probably be a whole lot better off if we were a little less civil in our objections to having our living standards lowered our children's future mortgaged to the hilt and our environment destroyed by the scum who rule us. If we had a little uprising they would have something to worry about. As it is, with our restrained and "civil" reaction to the collapse of the economy because of their greed and irresponsibility they know they have nothing whatever to fear. I think it's about time they started fearing a little bit. Without them fearing any sort of retribution for their crimes all that will happen is some talk about more regulation and then they all get to go back to robbing the common people to finance their obscene lifestyles.
February 3, 2009 8:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
oleeb: Is there anyone organizing blocks of people to STOP PAYING Credit Cards (to end the abuses that are 99% of their business) or Hospital Bills (to get Universal Single Payer)?
This would be difficult (subscribers to the protest can't take on any other debts and people would definitely go to jail...), but it seems to me that if enough people STOP PAYING into the maw of the debt business, things would have to change.
People are angry and righteous enough right now to make that happen. Hmmm...
February 3, 2009 8:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Restore the Social Contract;
Burn Your Credit Card Contract"
...until we get Single Payer Universal Health Care... Something along those lines...
February 3, 2009 9:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Mr Reich,
And your evidence for this is what exactly -- the marvelous job he did rolling over for the Bush Administration?
February 3, 2009 5:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, I thought that Geithner's tax mistake was more significant than Daschle's, especially given the job he is taking.
Having said that, however, I agree that there is a groundswell feeling of "enough" with business as usual in Washington, and perhaps, in retrospect, this nomination was a little tone deaf in that regard.
I like the idea of Howard Dean for this post, too.
-- ARG
February 3, 2009 5:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
"corporate CEOs who are earning seven figures"
Only SEVEN? What chumps!
February 3, 2009 5:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
What is Obama thinking? Backing Daschle after the tax revelations was bad enough, but nominating JUDD GREGG for Commerce Secretary? Gregg is the working class's worst nightmare, an anti-worker, anti-civil rights advocate of sending U.S. jobs overseas. The only excuse for nominating Gregg would be a Democratic senator, but Bonnie Newman is a pro-business Gregg clone.
It looks like unions get a tea party at the White House, a task force and maybe a Labor Secretary. Multinationals get Commerce, State, Treasury, the Council of Economic Advisors -- pretty much the whole ball of wax.
It sure looks like Obama is following in Clinton's footsteps -- letting global capitalists call the shots.
February 3, 2009 5:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't get that either. Once the guy demanded that the politicians foist another Republican on the people of New Hampshire, Obama should have withdrawn the offer. I wouldn't have put ONE Republican in the cabinet unless I was getting something in return.
February 3, 2009 6:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Commerce secretary is a titular job anyway.
February 3, 2009 6:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
And this surprised you why? After the FISA flip flop people, if they wished to look, could see exactly what they were going to get. And now we're getting it and this is only the beginning.
February 3, 2009 8:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
The problem is, except for the fringe, no one is will to get out and make themselves heard.
Like Sam Smith says here.
Instead of actually displaying our anger and disgust, we simply medicate it away or post how pissed we are to TPM, Alternet, Huffington and other blogs. Preaching to the choir because it's safer and more comfortable.
C
February 3, 2009 5:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Pff, ridiculous. "Without evidence" is right.
February 3, 2009 7:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
He would have served the public well and with distinction.
Why exactly? Why would someone who has spent his entire adult life in Washington, who has no particular medical or health administration background, and someone who has, charitably, a political career noteworthy only for its lack of accomplishment, have "serviced the public well." The public wants pretty drastic changes to the way health care is administered in the US. Daschle is a bought and paid-for insurance industry lobbyist. That is why people are pissed. The tax issue is just the rancid garnish on the dish.
As Taisi so ably put it:
"In Washington there are whores and there are whores, and then there is Tom Daschle.
...
Regarding Daschle, remember, we're talking about a guy who not only was a consultant for one of the top health-care law firms in the country, but a board member of the Mayo Clinic (a major recipient of NIH grants) and the husband of one of America's biggest defense lobbyists — wife Linda Hall lobbies for Lockheed-Martin and Boeing. Does anyone really think that this person is going to come up with a health care proposal that in any way cuts into the profits of the major health care companies?"
Good riddance.
February 3, 2009 5:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
As one of those hurting Americans I can say that my take has been that Washington is playing the fiddle while the United States burns. I do think that Daschle could have done great things but it's hard not to be angry about someone who doesn't pay taxes for a car and driver while I'm worrying about staying in my home and feeding my family. Frankly, the populist revolt is long overdue and should be directed more at the Republicans who started the fire, but they're not in charge in more, so we have come to expect more.
February 3, 2009 5:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Taibbi. Excuse me. A wit of that caliber deserves proper citation.
February 3, 2009 5:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't be surprised if you hear the name
John Kitzhaber mentioned as a possibility
He was a two time VERY POPULAR governor of Oregon
ER Physician and principle author of the Oregon Health Plan.
Steve in EUG
February 3, 2009 5:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think a Democrat in the White House goes a long way in explaining the public uproar. Republicans are all about party discipline and "us vs them" that causes a bunker mentality that rights off criticism as partisan politics. However with Obama preaching bi-partisanship, he still gets the slams from the Right who have not given up the fight yet, but also gets it from the left in equal amounts not to mention the MSM who is always looking to fill a news cycle.
McCain got 47% of the vote after all and his whole staff was lobbyists. You can only imagine what his Cabinet would have looked like. And the GOP would have supported every decision he made without a question asked.
Nobody is out defending Obama, he's taking it from all sides. Everybody has a better idea, and Obama is doing it all wrong. When Obama seals himself in the Presidential bubble, don't have the audacity to wonder why.
February 3, 2009 5:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is it really impossible to find enough Democrats who pay their taxes to fill the cabinet? I'm available if he can't find anyone else.
February 3, 2009 6:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great analysis. Democrats (and progressives who don't like party labels) have got to start going to the mat for the President. It is understandable to yearn for perfection since the administration is already two weeks old but there is something to be said for recognizing the "good" that has started to emerge.
February 3, 2009 6:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Perhaps if Obama paid more attention to the folks who'd elected him and less to "winning over" Republicans who could give a shit about his success, he'd have more support.
What I see, as someone who worked hard and gave as much $$$$ as I could afford, is Obama throwing me & my DFH ilk under the bus as he drives it to the curb to pick up the limo-riding Republicans. Those idiots are NEVER going to support him, so why does he antagonize his "base" to go after them.
February 3, 2009 6:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Because despite the many years of evidence to the contrary he is convinced that the force of his personality can "change our politics." Obviously he is wrong, but all those damn fool Democrats in Washington think this is a laudable goal. They're full of shit.
February 3, 2009 8:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Because his base extends from the mainstream left to the center right. All that crap about him being the most liberal member of the senate was just about as true as the usual republican lines.
February 4, 2009 4:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, Pelosi has been taking a great deal of the incoming fire, especially from Republicans.
It's easy to understand why. Obama's popularity numbers are in the high 60s; Pelosi can't get off 40, and Congressional Dems are in the 30s.
However, if anything, the top Dems have got to rally around one another. Obama, Pelosi and Reid can't get much done if each is looking at the other, thinking there's no support.
Besides, am I wrong, or did Obama not ask for dissenting voices? Disagreement on certain topics doesn't automatically mean a lack of support. And it's our voices that need to be heard - even if it is a bit of a cacophony at times. It's that willingness to listen to others - even if he disagrees - that will serve Obama best in the court of public opinion.
February 3, 2009 6:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
It seems like everyday Obama does something, or says something, that disappoints me.
I don't like the feeling I'm starting to get.
February 3, 2009 5:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, I agree wholeheartedly with this post.
I am a big supporter of Obama, and I want him to succeed, but I wanted Daschle to go and most of my pro-Obama friends agreed with me.
Conservative talking points to the contrary, I didn't vote for Obama because he's some sort of Messiah or because he is African American or whatever.
I voted for him because I thought he would fundamentally change the way things are done. That is what he promised, and I believed him. And I think Daschle's problems undermined Obama's claim, yet unproven, to be someone who can fundamentally change the way things are done.
Along the exact same lines, I am impatient that Obama hasn't told the Congressional Republicans to go take a hike. All this mealy-mouthed "bi-partisanship" is not what the country needs. Policies that work is what the country needs, and I am concerned that Obama's handling of Daschle and of the Republicans sounds an awful lot like old school politics of the last 20 years. Been there, done that, it doesn't work.
Where is Obama the Visionary? All I have seen so far is Obama the Clinton.
February 3, 2009 5:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Umm, you do know that Obama has only been in office for two weeks, right?
February 3, 2009 6:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
The people who were expecting him to walk on water are obviously going to be disappointed.
February 4, 2009 5:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
Klosterheim,
You have got to be kidding right? You on one hand say you hope Obama is someone that fundamentally changes the way things are done in Washington, yet in the next sentence slam him for engaging in the bi-partisanship he has? Did you not listen to anything he said during his campaign?
Running roughshod over the other side and looking at them as the enemy is precisely the tone Obama vowed to change. Now, you're claiming that that approach, which is the approach Americans are fed up with, bi-partisanship is NOT change from the dialog of republicans the last 8 years. Actually it certainly is, and if you had any clue for instance if you had studied the way he governs by his approach to his editorship at the Harvard Law Review, you would realize that Obama's gift is his ability to build bridges and inclusiveness in an arena that's always been divisive and hyper-partisan.
Changing the way Washington works fundamentally is going to require legislation, not disqualifying one of the most highly qualified to make the case for HHS. For that, believe it or not, we need a seasoned political operator that knows congress every bit as well as the health care issue. It's a difficult pedigree to find, unfortunately, with the most obvious person to do it already appointed as secretary of state.
Throwing relative noobs in high policy positions just because they are untainted by Lobbyists and assume they know how to be a master political operative is just farce. Just like throwing up red flags that blocking Daschle will amount to anything fundamentally different about Washington aside from weakening the possibilities of healthcare reform that might have been possible with a more moderate face like Daschle than a rife partisan like Howard Dean is utterly defeatist by just giving rethugs more steam on preventing a relatively quick passive of the stimulus.
February 3, 2009 6:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't panic just yet.
This reminds me of all the handwringing during the campaign... Obama isn't doing enough, he needs to do this NOW and that NOW. Over and over again, the chicken littles raised their voices in panic.
And over and over again, Obama stuck to his plan and his own timing, and it came out right.
Now, we're two weeks in, and everybody declares it's all gone to hell. But Obama plays chess. Give it at least a little time to see the overall strategy.
February 4, 2009 12:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
What do we do Bob? Something isn't working. I can't vote anymore, (until 2010), and I can't give anymore money. All my congress people are demo's, and I have buyers remorse. They can't even get some meager funding for mass transit?
And I agree with Moe, let's try Howard Dean. It just seems like he's one Demo that hasn't been a disappointment, and he has some fortitude of conviction.
February 3, 2009 5:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good riddance! Time for Obama to do a bit more of a balancing act--he's getting his conservative Republican in Gregg--now let's get a liberal, progressive Democrat to take Dumb Daschle's place. I'm all for Dean, but understand why he might not be the most effective choice in dealing with Congress.
February 3, 2009 5:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bob Reich - you've hit the nail with your head as someone recently observed in a peculiarly apt slip of the tongue.
Meaning you have got it right.
I was sick as the story developed and sick now. But when your mantra is `Change has come to America' you can't deliver if the symbol of that change is a guy who who got rich quick after he left office and now has "good friends" who supply him with a limo and a driver. Friends like that are owed favors and favors are the last thing anyone wants to hear about today.
So as much as I like Daschle - his competence, his experience, and his commitment - he proved he is a good guy by stepping aside.
The first 100 days is flying by - and we need to develop momentum. Tom Daschle's self-indulgence was costing us precious time.
- George Conk, New York City
February 3, 2009 5:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yikes, People, unbundle your panties. Last I checked, 100 minus 14 is only 86, so how are you figuring that 100 days is flying past? And, what mook decided that Obama only had 100 days, anyway?
February 3, 2009 6:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
In short, many Americans who have worked hard, saved as much as they can, bought a home, obeyed the law, and paid every cent of taxes that were due are beginning to feel like chumps.
Beginning??? BEGINNING????
February 3, 2009 5:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Precisely - the noise you hear is not the beginning of a revolt - it's the culmination.
February 3, 2009 6:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Damn Straight! I say good riddance. I'm sure Geithner is an asshole, but I understand making some common esoteric tax mistake that lots of people make. But how many people have their own CAR AND DRIVER provided by a friggin' money manager as a job perk for doing, what?
Oh right for "not lobbying" and "speaking fees". Whatever. Taking millions from the very same corporations who have been fighting for years to block healthcare reform and even being chauffeured around town on their dime. Disgusting.
February 3, 2009 6:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've seen this thought posted about by a number of respectable people. Can anyone tell me what the basis of it is?
February 3, 2009 6:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
"health-INSURANCE" is the key word. Health care is something else entirely.
February 3, 2009 6:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
That was where i was going to go next.
I don't want a different (or even a better) health insurance system.
I want a different and better health care system.
February 3, 2009 6:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
bluebell: Great point... Thanks...
February 3, 2009 8:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Mr. Reich,
You hit the nail on the head. I support Obama and worked hard to get him elected, but I'm not seeing as much change as I want. Tom Dachle's "BFF" Leo Hindery and Leo's cohort Gary Winnick cost me my son's college fund in the Global Crossing fiasco. I believed those b_st_rds when they said everything was going great while they were selling out their shareholders. Now my son attends a community college while his college money is used to pay to drive Tom around town. You bet I feel like a chump for even getting on the playing field, much less thinking it was level!
February 3, 2009 6:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Frankly, it was Daschle's conduct during the post 9/11 era, and the fact that he lost to John THUNE, that did him in for me. I'm kind of disappointed that Obama picked him, in fact. If the Republicans Obama picks are better than Dems like Daschle, what does that say?
February 3, 2009 6:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Daschle lost to Thune because Bush targeted Daschle in 2004, and the DNC was basically castrated with Terry "Rumrunner" McAuliffe at the head of it. Bush even went to SD, which is traditionally red anyway, to campaign for Thune.
It's not that I have a problem with criticizing Daschle. However, no Democrat in his situation in 2004 would've survived that kind of campaign.
February 3, 2009 6:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
As I recall, there was a fair amount of voter suppression on the Indian reservations as well. This contributed to Thune's "victory."
February 3, 2009 6:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're being far too kind to Daschle about his loss to Thune. He was a very powerful incumbent who took his constituency for granted and got his ass handed to him. He earned that loss out of the very same pot of arrogance that lost him HHS.
February 3, 2009 8:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
He was the Senate leader for his party, running for a fourth term against a guy who had exactly one thing going for him: Bush's hearty endorsement.
You can count the number of people in Daschle's position who have lost that re-election race on the fingers of a mutilated right hand. Even a lot of Repubs in SD argued that it was inane to vote out a guy with that much seniority, who had a good record of supporting and representing his state.
(I followed that election more closely than I do most Senate races, being that it was the minority leader at risk. Did the same thing with McConnell-Lunsford last year.)
February 3, 2009 10:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
South Dakota was always a questionable state for a liberal democrat to not only survive but thrive in the first place.
One look at THUNE and you wonder how Tom got as far as he did. Thune is one of those idiots that believes the universe is 6000 years old and it all started in a place called Eden.
February 3, 2009 6:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Which is worse, Wall Street greed or Washington greed?
February 3, 2009 6:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
The real shame here is that it took Daschle's tax issues to bring him down. He never should have been nominated, given that he and his wife are part of the corrupt Washington culture of lobbyists who make millions off their connections in Congress.
February 3, 2009 6:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have to agree with you. Daschle is almost the perfect poster boy for what Obama supposedly ran against: lobbyist rule of Washington.
February 3, 2009 8:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Imagine that the folks at Exxon had realized that the captain of the Exxon Valdez was an incompetent drunk and had installed a new captain while the ship was underway and heading into some very dangerous waters. Do you think the captain would be more prudent if he tried to make the ship turn on a dime or if he assessed the situation to figure out the optimum speed and course changes that might keep the ship afloat and the oil in the hold?
February 3, 2009 6:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Daschle was the wrong person in the first place. The public wants single payer public health care. Obama is offering improved access to crappy health insurance. Daschle needed to go down as the first step to getting the right program.
February 3, 2009 6:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow, that's actually a happy thought.
=D
February 3, 2009 9:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
short and sweet and totally correct! hope it can work out that way.
February 3, 2009 11:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Perhaps after eight years of abject incompetency the amorality of Ayn Rand my joy and exuberance in having Barack Obama as the the President is letting my better judgment take a back seat to my belief integrity is essential in our highest officials. The pragmatist in me recognizes that President Obama's team is bright capable and competent the idealist in me says these trying times require people who evoke unquestioned respect for their integrity and commitment to the public welfare.
I find it sad that the two figures who exemplify integrity are not in Washington at this important time. The time has come for President Obama to make calls to his predecessor in the Senate Peter Fitzgerald and Howard Dean and explain the need for them in Washington. The inclusion of Fitzgerald and Dean in an Obama cabinet could be the signal that bipartisan is about how better to serve the citizens than about which lobby provides the best perks.
I have little doubt that Daschle did his best to serve the public need but like Caesar's wife.....
February 3, 2009 7:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Professor Reich is absolutely correct but Obama needs to take this as an opportunity to embrace a universal, single payer system. Part of the objections to Daschle were over the tax issue. But some of the objections were over his perceived connections to the healthcare industry. He was not beaten by the tax issue, he was beaten by a combination of people being annoyed with him about the taxes and people being suspicious of his ability to do what professor Reich believes he would have done.
If people had more faith in him on the latter score, the tax issue would not have been enough to disqualify him.
February 3, 2009 7:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Everyone, lost in the shuffle today was a statement issued by Ms. Lambrew that any Obama proposal on health care will include a parallel public plan. This is the first step to universal single payer.
February 3, 2009 7:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's a very good point. Indeed, it eliminates the private players by out-competing them, something the Republicans can't really argue with since if, as they say, private insurance is cheaper and better, people will choose that instead.
February 3, 2009 9:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
"I'm sorry Tom Daschle won't be in the Obama administration. He would have served the public well and with distinction. But the public wants change, real change, big change. There's no tolerance any longer for the way things used to be done."
I agree with your basic point about the public wanting real change and big change Prof. Reich, but do you see anything at all to indicate that is what the Obama Presidency will deliver? We have 3 Republicans in the Cabinet (so far) and not one well known reliably liberal, liberal at all. All the Democrats in the cabinet are, at best, centrists and at worst the next best thing to a Republican. How does the new President bring change when he has put a cast of characters like this in charge?
February 3, 2009 8:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
You people really crack me up. What would have happened if Daschle were a Bush appointee? You know perfectly well what. His tax records would've been held confidential under executive privilege. Every tighty righty and his cousin would be hoarse from whining about partisan witch hunts and demanding a straight up or down vote. So can it with your double standards already.
February 3, 2009 8:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think most of the folks expressing satisfaction at Daschle's withdrawal are motivated by their lack of confidence in him and his motivations. The tax issues are only a small symptom of the greater and more overriding concerns people had. In short, I think a lot of people thought he would be the harbinger of a windfall health care policy for insurance companies and the average people would get left out in the cold. It really is not a double standard at all.
February 3, 2009 8:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Couldn't have said it better. It wasn't the tax cheating. That's just his normal sleaze. It's that he was cozy with the enemies of single payer health care. He said it was impossible to get single payer. With that attitude and those bad friends, he would have given some hope while wasting time and never getting anything done. He would look real pretty and real concerned though. And thousands more would die from lack of good health care. Good riddance.
February 3, 2009 10:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seen all these corrupt politicians come out in the open makes me sick to my stomach.
I'm glad he is out.
February 3, 2009 9:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
One of the unstated reasons for Daschle's withdrawal is the fact that his younger brother was diagnosed with a brain tumor within the last few weeks. Then came the NYT editorial calling for him to withdraw, and that was the final blow.
February 3, 2009 9:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Daschle says the last straw was the NYT editorial. It was about his cozy industry connections, not the tax biz.
If true, that could be a good sign for the power of the press.
February 3, 2009 11:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
My first priority is afordable health care. Whether that is based on some kind of insurance like Switzerland or a single payer scheme like the UK is open to debate. I will say that general health care is better in Switzerland that the UK but they are about the same if you get something chronic or really serious. (in my personal experience).
February 4, 2009 5:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hi Sam. NOt sure why you replied to my comment.
I don't know any details about UK or S.
My first priority is not "health care" unless we are talking about the overall political and economic "health" of the country.
I think of health care as a luxury item. I'm not saying we shouldn't have luxuries, only that we should not mix up our priorities. To the extent that health care has a net benefit over its costs, it's quite attractive once transition costs and obstruction have been dealt with.
February 4, 2009 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am glad Daschle is withdrawing, because I couldn't stand to look at those bizarre glasses for four years.
Seriously, when did he get those things?
February 4, 2009 7:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
With every new administration we see a couple of examples of tax cheats so this is nothing new. And the cheating is always in areas where the average American has no exposure because you have to be wealthy to be in a position to cheat like this. It makes me wonder just how much tax revenue is lost to one form of tax cheating or another by the wealthy. Obviously enforcement is way to lax by the IRS or we wouldn't see this widespread of tax cheating. I once got nailed by the IRS because I mistakenly thought it was not necessary to report individual interest payments that were less than $10. If the IRS can find my $5.32 mistake why can't they just as easily find the huge mistakes of the wealthy?
February 4, 2009 7:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
This is cross posted from http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/02/03/obama_concedes_defeat_on_daschle_while_republicans/index.php as it all applies to Reich's blog on this subject....
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It's a good thing that Dashle is out. I hope it was Obama himself who forced him to fall on his sword. http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/02/01/daschle/
So far, frankly, it seems that Obama has massively underestimated just what a bunch of nasty malevolent pricks and scumbags he's dealing with on the Republican side, and, frankly, on the establishmentarian Democratic side.
The long knives are out for this president and no matter how much he compromises, there are forces that are determined to sabotage him (and/or co-opt him, which is tantamount to the same thing) from all "sides".
His whole candidacy was "off script". From the POV of the systematically (legally!!!) corrupt establishment, Obama must be co-opted or destroyed.
"Team of rivals" made some sense for Lincoln at that time and in that context. It's turning out to be a mistake here and now. (maybe some of these folks have read the book too ;-)
Neither the Democratic nor the Republican establishments want to really work with Obama beyond the level of lip service....and the more Obama tries to be "just one of the boys" by caving in....the worse it will eventually be for Obama and for the United States.
The political establishment in the USA is indeed non partisan. It's a morally and ethically legally corrupt pay to play system that has infected our politics and our policy from root to branch.
Obama is still the president and he still has the power to change course. He still has the power to hire and fire. He needs to use those powers.
It's only been a few weeks; but the trajectory that we're now on leads to a failed presidency and a complete mess for ordinary Americans who aren't already in the category of being rich and powerful.
Obama must come to realize that his best interests and hopes are served by working with and *leading* the actual PEOPLE of the United States. They/we actually *believed* that stuff about change.
Obama can start recovering this presidency by appointing someone like Robert Reich or even Howard Dean to HHS. As for Judd Gregg, he should be told to take a hike by the Democrats in congress, if not by Obama himself......that appointment is a complete blunder by any standard.
The best hope I have is for Obama to announce a change of direction in his upcoming SOU address in which he calls upon the people to help him fight for real systemic/radical change.
"Radical" is not a dirty word. This country's dis-ease go down to the roots of the legally (!!!) corrupt system and so must the cure.
If Obama actually came out in public as being for radical/substantial/systemic reforms of the legalized corruption that has become our government AND our "private sector"
he would have 90% of the country behind him (his email list would quadruple :-)....but the call for reform needs to be for real; not just more of the same old poll driven bullshit.
There is not much of a "middle way" here. The problems we face are too severe and too profound. Obama will either be a one term failure (in which case America is even more screwed than it is now) or he will rise to the occasion and become, over the next eight years, the transformative leader most of us voted for.
February 4, 2009 9:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
I've always been more worried about the IRS then I have Al Qaeda; the IRS has caused way more real damage to America anyway.
But Baracks people are catching it because of the non-payment of taxes. I mean these are some big figures not being paid by some big people.
But I wonder what the portfolios of all those "Washington Folks" would look like , on the real , if the American people were allowed to see who did and who didn't pay taxes or not. I think they fudge more numerously then we do , as normal Americans , and they use way bigger numbers to do that fudging.
February 4, 2009 9:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder why more peope aren't up in arms when Obama discusses the need for a stimulus package and the need to rebuild confidence so people begin to spend, and then turns around and talks about reigning in social security. The crest of the baby boom is approaching retirement. If you lead them to believe that their future promised benefits are in jeopardy, they will not spend. Also, if benefits are cut, then the government will have pulled off the biggest fraud of all: turning a goverment run, taxpayer funded retirement plan into retroactive regressive taxation.
February 4, 2009 11:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Here's an idea. Why not genuine progressive icon Robert Reich as HHS Secretary?
The man has the experience, the progressive bona fides, and has already been thoroughly vetted from his years as Labor Secretary. Wouldn't he be a shoe-in for confirmation?
February 4, 2009 11:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
Or maybe, just maybe, it's us who don't get it.
Tom Daschle isn't a bad guy; he's got industry connections because he would have to to effectively perform the job Barack Obama wanted him to do. Obama isn't interested in single payer, and any reasonable "reform" (rather than dismantling) of the health care system would require a lot of consideration for who the players are now.
Yet we the people managed to torpedo a good man in the name of pique.
Now, I haven't been a Daschle supporter since the Age of Gingrich, and I have zero interest in health care reform that involves more government rather than less. But I'm sensible to the fact that the way Washington works is not universally evil or bad for the country. People like Daschle and Obama (even when I disagree with them, and even when they have a car and driver) really do try to do what is best for the country.
And it is unbecoming of us, who elected them, to complain. The time for that was November.
February 4, 2009 11:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
Don't have time to read all the comments, but glad to see Reich at least partially agrees with me about Daschle and that many readers agree even more.
The following is a letter I submitted today to my local daily newspaper, The News Herald in Panama City, Florida.
Dear Editor,
Two stories in today's paper (“Obama admits 'I screwed up; Daschle nomination gone'” on page A-3 and “Samson: 'I did this on my own'” on page B-1) provide a teachable moment on the subject of conflict of interest. A public official is guilty of conflict of interest when he or she uses the power of office for personal gain. Public officials are elected to serve the common good of the entire population of their constituency, not just themselves and their friends. In both cases, it was worth noting that these politicians both retained the loyalty of their fellow legislators. Is our political process so corrupted by self-serving politicians that they routinely turn a blind eye to conflict of interest?
In Northwest Florida, the public recognized that Rep. Sansom appeared to be using his considerable influence as incoming Speaker of the House to direct millions of dollars to his local community college while accepting a new lucrative job from that college. For once, the press did their job as watchdog of the use of public money by keeping this story alive until it became too hot for him to continue in his leadership position – and possibly pay back all those fellow politicians who had allowed his money grab. Maybe now they can make decisions on the basis of the needs of all the people rather than to whom they owe a political favor.
On the national scene, former Sen. Daschle was forced to withdraw as a nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services on Pres. Obama's cabinet, due to his failure to pay all of his income tax in recent years. The resulting publicity drew attention to the millions of dollars of income he had received immediately after leaving the Senate where he served for years as Democratic Majority Leader. Much of the income had come from the health services industry, which he was being nominated to reform. Could the public expect him to make unbiased policy decisions involving corporations who had contributed so much to his personal wealth? I seriously doubt it. In this case also, his fellow senators seemed ready to confirm him, making yesterday's announcement of his withdrawal strike news organizations as a bombshell. Do our U.S. Senators accept as their right the ability to make personal fortunes through their public office? Is that why the Senate is sometimes called the millionaires club?
Apparently, we the people need to remind public officials continuously that they are elected to serve all the people and not to enrich themselves and their friends.
February 4, 2009 12:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
I will go back to supporting OBAMA when RHAM EMANUAL DECLARES HIS LOYALTY TO AMERICA AND NOT iSREAL. LOOK AT HOW MANY OF BUSH'S CABINET HOLD DUAL CITIZENSHIP WITH ISREAL AND HOW THEY RESPONDED IN ANY CRISIS (the cadaverous CHERTOV)FOR EXAMPLE. A man cannot serve two masters and have loyalty to two countries. decide parasites!!!!!.
February 11, 2009 11:49 PM | Reply | Permalink