Wow. Sometimes I'm really shocked by the level of overt corruption there is in our government. Tom Daschle is a great example of it... read this article by salon.com's Glenn Greenwald for the case against Daschle. I had no idea how twisted the power corridors of Washington can run. But this really lays it out.
At one point in the article Glenn quotes Matt Taibbi of the Rolling Stone, who says "When Obama picked Tom Daschle to be the HHS Secretary, I nearly shit my pants. In Washington there are whores and there are whores, and then there is Tom Daschle. Tom Daschle would suck off a corpse for a cheeseburger."
Now THAT'S good investigative journalism. Even *I* wouldn't suck off a corpse for a cheeseburger. And I love cheeseburgers.
Anyways, the point is that as part of Daschle's vetting for his nomination as HHS Secretary, he had to submit a full financial disclosure. That disclosure revealed "for the first time exactly how, without becoming a registered lobbyist, he made millions of dollars giving public speeches and private counsel to insurers, hospitals, realtors, farmers, energy firms and telecommunications companies with complex regulatory and legislative interests in Washington."
And of course that's incredibly embarrassing for Obama, who's trying to clean up Washington, not perpetuate its sleazy corruption.
And the hilarious bit is that despite all the cash Daschle's been raking in, he forgot to pay taxes on his limousine. As Joan Walsh on salon put it, "It must have been so bewildering to Daschle, as if the government had
decided to tax the air we breathe, or the love of our families! My
limousine? My God, who knew?"
So as all of this is coming out, Daschle's made the right call and asked for his nomination to be withdrawn. From what I read in the 2 linked articles, that was totally the right move. Read the details if you like... Greenwald's piece (as always) is a methodical, well-researched argument. Joan's is more of an opinion piece, but much easier to read.
Whichever one you read, you'll be reminded of just how fucked up our government is, and how much work there is ahead of all of us to clean it up.
At one point in the article Glenn quotes Matt Taibbi of the Rolling Stone, who says "When Obama picked Tom Daschle to be the HHS Secretary, I nearly shit my pants. In Washington there are whores and there are whores, and then there is Tom Daschle. Tom Daschle would suck off a corpse for a cheeseburger."
Now THAT'S good investigative journalism. Even *I* wouldn't suck off a corpse for a cheeseburger. And I love cheeseburgers.
Anyways, the point is that as part of Daschle's vetting for his nomination as HHS Secretary, he had to submit a full financial disclosure. That disclosure revealed "for the first time exactly how, without becoming a registered lobbyist, he made millions of dollars giving public speeches and private counsel to insurers, hospitals, realtors, farmers, energy firms and telecommunications companies with complex regulatory and legislative interests in Washington."
And of course that's incredibly embarrassing for Obama, who's trying to clean up Washington, not perpetuate its sleazy corruption.
And the hilarious bit is that despite all the cash Daschle's been raking in, he forgot to pay taxes on his limousine. As Joan Walsh on salon put it, "It must have been so bewildering to Daschle, as if the government had
decided to tax the air we breathe, or the love of our families! My
limousine? My God, who knew?"
So as all of this is coming out, Daschle's made the right call and asked for his nomination to be withdrawn. From what I read in the 2 linked articles, that was totally the right move. Read the details if you like... Greenwald's piece (as always) is a methodical, well-researched argument. Joan's is more of an opinion piece, but much easier to read.
Whichever one you read, you'll be reminded of just how fucked up our government is, and how much work there is ahead of all of us to clean it up.
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