BREAKING: Tom Daschle Withdraws
03 February 2009 12:44 pm by Taylor Marsh
–updated–
According to NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, The New York Times made Daschle do it.
It was foreshadowed yesterday at Gibbs’ press conference:
QUESTION: What specifically is the President doing to ensure that the Finance Committee and members of the Senate are comfortable with the Tom Daschle position? Is he reaching out to them by phone? Is he involved in personally lobbying for his future?
MR. GIBBS: I don’t believe he’s made calls. I know staff probably has, and I think you’ve seen — I think the most vocal advocate right now for Senator Daschle is Senator Daschle. And I think you’ve seen the letter that was released this morning that was sent to the committee last night, and I think you’ve seen the chair of the committee, who’s very important in this process and very interested in health care reform moving forward in this session of Congress, come out in support of Senator Daschle.
Yes, sir. Did you just trade seats to get at a better —
Tough day, because Obama also lost Nancy Killefer today:
I recognize that your agenda and the duties facing your Chief Performance Officer are urgent. I have also come to realize in the current environment that my personal tax issue of D.C. Unemployment tax could be used to create exactly the kind of distraction and delay those duties must avoid. Because of this I must reluctantly ask you to withdraw my name from consideration.
I am deeply honored to have been selected by you and you have my deep appreciation for your confidence in me. You have my heartfelt support and best wishes for success in all your endeavors.
Got vetting?
Can we get Howard Dean now?
What happened to the Hillary post? Not ready?
So it wasn’t just me. Hillary was there for a moment and then poof! Gone.
It was a timer issue, Iceblinkjm. It will be up after the Daschle explosion.
Yeah, justlen, there is a lot of talk about that right now. You need to speak with Rahm.
And for Geot when he shows up: thanks for the instructions. Went to wordpress.COM (not ORG, go figure) and created an account and Wham! The avatar showed up immediately as soon as I opened up this site in a new tab.
justlen says:
03 February 2009 at 12:46 pm
Can we get Howard Dean now?
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Maybe Donna Shalala is available? :=)
wuulfgar says:
03 February 2009 at 12:54 pm
And for Geot when he shows up: thanks for the instructions. Went to wordpress.COM (not ORG, go figure) and created an account and Wham! The avatar showed up immediately as soon as I opened up this site in a new tab.
your welcome
I think Wordpress.org is the software/developer part of the operation.
It just boggles the mind that so many taxes could be owed for a car and driver in such a short period of time.
So in hindsight, this is pretty amazing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avG9DvLi-aQ
For Howard Dean? New facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=65001140420
Politically, I don’t this is a big deal. His avoidance of such a huge tax bill is the same as the bank execs still getting their bonuses, the auto execs arriving in a private jet, and the unions refusing to bend…..while picking my taxpayer pocket.
It’s all offensive.
I think this will be a tough position to fill with a qualified person who doesn’t have conflicts of interest.
Also, it will be interesting to see in a couple of years to see how they vette presidential candidates. I can think of a certain governor from a very cold state who must have refiled her taxes multiple times (per diem income not included, travel costs for the kids). Plus, refiled expense reports from 2007 (my brother who is in sales told me that is always a red flag in any company when someone amends expense reports – usually mean they got caught in a lie).
Why do you guys think that Dean knows zip about health care?
I don’t get it.
test
We gonna see anything on Judd Gregg’s nomination soon? THAT is a story right there. What is with these seemingly bizarre nominations and the really flaky nominations? “Do you have anything in your past that’ll embarrass you or us?” “Nope.” (news comes out) “Oh wait. You mean taxes count?”
AnninCA says:
03 February 2009 at 1:02 pm
Why do you guys think that Dean knows zip about health care?
um….
…he’s a doctor
…he’s a strong proponent of health care reform
All this, to me, is just a neophyte president’s missteps. I’m honestly not giving it too much weight.
I can say that his announcement about limiting exec pay annoyed me.
He’s way too PR-oriented for my taste. I bet that is, in part, why I sort of “got” Bush.
I can’t stand reactivity.
Executive pay structures is NOT the baliwick of government. Either give them the bailout or don’t.
But this nonsense is just that……nonsense.
Obama is looking stupid to me, right now.
Meanwhile, the far-left blogs are going nuts because….*gasp*….Republicans let the man on the street talk.
If Obama is smart, he’ll take a deep breath and center himself and his administration.
And so will people.
OK…..I’ll look into Dean’s credentials.
He’s just the annoying guy in the primary to me.
But…..you gave me a reason to check him out further.
Audiegrl says:
03 February 2009 at 1:06 pm
test
way to go!
still waiting for my change of pic to take.
Everybody, put your pencils down. We have a winner.
Obama is looking stupid to (some), right now.
Republicans ‘let’ the man on the street talk. (implying Democrats don’t? Implying those the Republicans ‘let talk’ have anything to say? Like in a war zone? Or a strategy/policy meeting?
Good grief.
um….
…he’s a doctor
…he’s a strong proponent of health care reform
justlen says:
03 February 2009 at 1:07 pm
oh you and your accurate information…
No tears from me – I am no big fan of Tom Daschle. He was a very weak leader and let the GOP roll all over the democrats when he led the US Senate. Then he could not even get re-elected by the people of his state. Plus he endorsed Obama yet Hillary won SD by 11 points. Obviously, the people of SD do not hold him in such high regard.
Thank you GeoT, I just wanted to make ‘any’ picture work. LOL
DaveB says:
03 February 2009 at 1:02 pm
Palin won’t hold up to scrutiny, plus she’s been busy hunting for pork in D.C. lately…
Crap, I fed the troll. The troll that couldn’t figure out a reason to ‘check out’ a well-known political figure until someone on this blog said, “Um, he’s been for reform of that?”
Just the annoying guy from the primary. Just the annoying guy with the brilliant strategy that got the Democrats elected and punted the Republicans to the curb. Just that guy.
Yeah. Uh huh.
Whoever Obama chooses to replace Daschle (and please God don’t have it be Caroline Kennedy) must be pristinely clean of tax problems.
Thank you GeoT, I just wanted to make ‘any’ picture work. LOL
Audiegrl says:
03 February 2009 at 1:13 pm
I like it, looks like an colorful Illinois snowstorm. :=)
Joe the Republican strategist?
*snicker*
The Republicans are going to veer so right they’ll be the exclusive party of the right wing fundies and continue to lose elections all over the place.
I honestly have no idea why he was suppose to be the health care guru.
I never quite got the connecting dots on that one.
BUT……here’s what I personally think.
We need that reform……..sooner rather than later.
For real, seriously, let’s do it.
We’re about to find out just how good Gibby is. Press briefing coming up… stay tuned.
GeoT – I can’t get the avatar to work – am I supposed to restart my computer?
Obama is looking stupid to me, right now.
AnninCA says:
03 February 2009 at 1:08 pm
LOL and Bush is looking better and better? you’re in a category of one Ann.
Just posted Killefer’s letter to Obama for those interested.
I think Republicans are looking pretty good right now. They are standing firm on principles.
This stimulus bill was a fiasco.
Last night, I was listening to Anderson Cooper. (OK, but I was bored.)
The message was that this isn’t Obama’s bill, but Pelosi’s bill.
Such nonsense.
It’s a flop, guys. Just admit it.
And, from one who is often opposite of you guys, let me reassure you, I don’t think the flop is serious.
It’s just a neophyte flop.
If Obama pulls back and regroups, he’ll be fine. He has tons of goodwill stored up.
People want him to succeed, but we don’t want to reintroduce 1970’s Democratic ideas. That’s not going to work.
He’ll regroup. If he can calm down and stop thinking he has to make a decision every 5 seconds.
nancy50 says:
03 February 2009 at 1:18 pm
GeoT – I can’t get the avatar to work – am I supposed to restart my computer?
_______
You shouldn’t have to, just activate the Wordpress account through your email (make sure you used the same email addy @ Wordpress as you use here) It may take awhile for the avatar to start showing up.
Justlen, 55% of goopers (soooo close to goobers we really should just change to that) think the ‘party’ should be more like Palin. So you have Palin as the face, Samuel J. Wurzelbacher as the voice, and Michael “Shaft of” Steele (”Not in the history of mankind has the government ever created a job.”) as the new Fearless Leader.
Yeah, they’ll be in out of the wilderness Real Soon Now.
Nah*…….that’s what scares you, Geo. I’m not just a voice of one. LOL*
AnninCA says:
03 February 2009 at 1:20 pm
I think Republicans are looking pretty good right now. They are standing firm on principles.
What principles? Tax cuts for business?
I think the country is done with trickle down. It was utterly debunked.
Now that the MSM has beat up Tom Dashel for a few days, they seem to be sad that he dropped out.
Thanks GeoT – I’ll try it again.
justlen says:
03 February 2009 at 1:15 pm
Joe the Republican strategist?
*snicker*
The Republicans are going to veer so right they’ll be the exclusive party of the right wing fundies and continue to lose elections all over the place.
______
That’s why they’re stonewalling and Rush is rooting for failure. If the Obama admin. is successful the Repubs will be in the wilderness for many cycles to come IMO.
AnninCA says:
03 February 2009 at 1:21 pm
Nah*…….that’s what scares you, Geo. I’m not just a voice of one. LOL*’
I’ve never been sure how many voices you hear Ann :=)
If you are a Glen Greenwald reader and believe his take on things,which I generally do,this is not such a bad thing. Obama may have felt beholden to Dashchle for all the work he did for him early on. He gave him his Senate staff as he left the Senate,he worked behind the scenes to get early Senate endorsements.
It would be good if the leader of healthcare reform had not been advising lobbiests for the insurance industry for the last 2 1/2 years and whose wife is not a lobbiest for airline and military related industry. That sounds like no real change to me.
By all appearences Dean would be great. No only is he a former practicing Doc but his wife is a current practicing Doc.I would think particulary his wife would have a great understanding of what people are facing today. Dean might have a hard time with the “insiders” but wouldn’t that be a good thing in the long run?
GeoT
Its a slice of a hat, done by artist Keith Grace.
I am on a different computer now, so I am resubmitting another picture of my actual avatar. Not sure how long it takes to change over.
I want bold, guys. I don’t want a stimulus bill that extends COBRA. Nobody I know can afford COBRA. It’s a joke.
I want bold. Smart. Really bold.
I swear, I’m more radical than you guys.
Republican principles: Government bad! Very Very Bad! If you’n your’n poor, too bad! Your fault! Work harder! Work 3 jobs! It’s amurrikn! Rich are rich because they good murrikns! No taxes for them! It’ll trickle! You can love/marry who we say you can! You can’t do that in your own bedroom! Why can’t we see? If we can see it, and we don’t like it, you can’t do it! And if you let us see it (please?), that’s nasty! Shame on you!
If they’re so against government, why do they advocate so strongly for being IN goverment so they can dictate your beliefs, and practices, and ‘morals’?
Nice principles.
The Republicans, with the help of the MSM, are tap dancing on our heads…and getting away with it.
Not sure how to stop it but they are going to ruin what should have been an opportunity to fix the problems in this country.
Executive pay structures is NOT the baliwick of government. Either give them the bailout or don’t.
AnninCA,
When said company is looking for a multi-billion dollar bailout, everything in that comapnay is fair game.
As far as daschle goes with regard to SD, a Democrat winning there was a tough sell to start with, especially a relatively liberal Democrat.
I don’t get it Lake Lady. So Daschle was a payoff for political favor?
*blink*
Again, I confess that I never quite got why he’d be terrific in this position.
I read a few editorials early on about his success, but it seemed tepid to me.
but then, I always thought Hillary was the true Health care reform candidate, not Obama.
His plan was never astounding to me, anyway.
I think he’s not that interested in it. It’s a bit like his support of LGBT issues. “We’ll study it.”
Gregg has his own voice, and that’s fine. Just because someone has a different viewpoint or history (even as wacky as Gregg’s are), doesn’t mean Obama will cave to it.
There’s no need to worry. He said all along he’ll listen to all viewpoints and make an informed decision. He did not say he’s the decider. He doesn’t have to say it as petulantly as his predecessor did. Just know that his is the final decision.
Well, my man….it was a loan.
Not a takeover by goverment.
I think his remarks about executive pay are out of line.
I think the corporate culture is also out of line.
So, honestly, I don’t care.
They are all wrong, to me.
p.s.
Make sure you press “update profile” at the bottom of the page when you create/change your avatar (or any other info)
I think I’ve hit another bug in the new system :=)
I popped out and back in seeing 52 responses, but then all I see is GeoT (no offense)! Where do the comments go when you leave? Is this like the light in a fridge?
Oh, there’s a greyed out “Older Comments” link just above Leave a Reply. Maybe there should be a setting for time-to-live on comments or maybe a number to keep in the active/show queue?
Well, my man….it was a loan.
Not a takeover by goverment.
I think his remarks about executive pay are out of line.
I think the corporate culture is also out of line.
So, honestly, I don’t care.
They are all wrong, to me.
When a FAILED company is receiving billions of our (taxpayers) money, perception is huge. If Obama has to use them as a whipping boy, so be it. The Bush years have seen real middle class income decrease every year, while the top 5% of income earners have increased. So, has trickle down worked?
It’s paging the comments.
wuulfgar says:
03 February 2009 at 1:36 pm
Is this like the light in a fridge?
____
that cracked me up!
Michael Steele, Sarah Palin, and Joe The Plumber.
New Republican Party slogan: Vote for us in 2012! We’ve got our own Negro, our own woman, and our own handicapped guy! We’re All-Inclusive now!!!
(shamelessly stolen from another blog)
justlen says:
03 February 2009 at 1:37 pm
It’s paging the comments.
_____
I see that now, that’s going to mess up the flow you know…
so who takes ths xlot now? dean? oh and waxman came out for single payer and wont back this crap daschle and obama want.
Has anyone been watching the new TV series called “Lie to Me”?
It basically shows how people lie and how to solve crimes with this knowledge. and uses photos and footage of popular figures to illustrate the point.
Anyway, they showed an example of someone who is smiling, but has ’scared eyes’. And one of the examples they used was a photo of Sarah Palin. They said she was smiling, but scared of the media.
Its a pretty good show.
Audiegrl says:
03 February 2009 at 2:03 pm
They said she was smiling, but scared of the media.
That mean ‘ole Katie Couric. Hold me, Joe.
also.
Audiegrl says:
03 February 2009 at 2:03 pm
I’m psychic, I know what your new Avatar is (will be):
http://tinyurl.com/awc2mm
I’m giving up on the avatar. Hubby is tech savy and will be home from his trip on Friday.
GeoT says:
03 February 2009 at 2:07 pm
your good!
nancy50 says:
03 February 2009 at 2:10 pm
I’m giving up on the avatar. Hubby is tech savy and will be home from his trip on Friday.
go to Log In/Account on the top of this page (right side) you may see your avatar in the “recent comments”.
Audiegrl says:
03 February 2009 at 2:14 pm
your good!
for some reason the updated avatars are showing up here:
http://www.taylormarsh.com/wp-admin/
I disagree with you Ann…Obama is very smart so he understands how healthcare impacts the economy. It may not be his favorite policy interest, (which I have always thought was probably foreign policy) but he knows it is part of the solution to economic growth.
If I hear one more Republican call for lower corporate tax rates I’m going to strangle one of them.
I know people that are paying $1200/month for family coverage under COBRA. And it only lasts 18 months I believe. Who can afford that even with a 65% subsidy when on unemployment? The time has come for single payer like Medicare for all – at least extend that for those 55 – 65. That would free up jobs for young people. Think of the money that would be freed up and jobs saved for companies like the auto industry or school districts/ municipalities if the health care costs for the employees was under a single payer system. That’s my opinion anyway. How about Howard Dean for HHS?