A request for our friends on the Democratic side of the aisle–could they please specify when a cabinet nominee’s failure to pay his taxes disqualifies him from the office he seeks? What amount? What expenses? How long ago?
Besides, “it’s disqualifying when a Republican does it,” I mean.
Because $146,000 over the past three years seems like a lot.
UPDATE: Via Mike Krempasky, master at twisting the knife: “Make no mistake, tax cheaters cheat us all, and the IRS should enforce our laws to the letter.” Tom Daschle, Congressional Record, 5/7/98, p. S4507
ANOTHER UPDATE: Michael Steele thinks this is a fight worth having:
Steele said in a telephone interview that Republicans should oppose former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle’s nomination to be secretary of Health and Human Services. Daschle is the second Cabinet nominee to acknowledge he didn’t pay thousands of dollars in taxes.
“We’ve already let one cat out of the bag with (Treasury Secretary Timothy) Geithner,” Steele said. “So what’s the standard down to, to be a Cabinet secretary? You don’t have to pay your taxes? Come on.”