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View Full Version : Daeschle Is Another Blago



red states rule
01-31-2009, 11:59 AM
I am sure Tom will be cleared by the Obama internal investigation

Health care groups paid Daschle $220k


Tom Daschle, tapped to be President Obama's health czar, was paid more than $200,000 by the health-care industry in the past two years, according to documents obtained by Politico.

The former Senate majority leader, who gave speeches to firms and groups with a vested-interest in the administration's upcoming health reform, collected the checks as part of a $5 million windfall after he lost reelection to his South Dakota seat.

This weekend, Daschle's nomination to be secretary of Health and Human Services became embroiled in controversy over the last-minute revelation that he had only recently paid long-overdue taxes.

Daschle made nearly $5.3 million in the last two years, records released Friday show, including $220,000 he received for giving speeches, many of them to outfits that stand to gain or lose millions of dollars from the work he would do once confirmed as secretary of Health and Human Services.

For instance, the Health Industry Distributors Association plunked down $14,000 to land the former Senate Democratic leader in March 2008. The association, which represents medical products distributors, boasts on its website that Daschle met with it after he was nominated to discuss “the impact an Obama administration will have on the industry.”

This week, the group began openly lobbying him, sending him a letter urging him to rescind a rule requiring competitive bidding of Medicare contracts.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/18237.html

Kathianne
01-31-2009, 12:11 PM
I don't get the comparison between Blago and Daschle. Daschle didn't pay his taxes. Blago stole from his constituents and abused his powers in a myriad of ways. I don't like either, but the comparison is off, IMHO.

red states rule
01-31-2009, 12:13 PM
I don't get the comparison between Blago and Daschle. Daschle didn't pay his taxes. Blago stole from his constituents and abused his powers in a myriad of ways. I don't like either, but the comparison is off, IMHO.

It is clear Tom is selling his services, and influence, to anyone and everyone he can

That is what I saying Kat

It gets better - from the link


President-elect Barack Obama’s apparent decision to tap former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle as secretary of health and human services may have already affected his wife’s lobbying career.

Linda Daschle, one of Washington’s most prominent aviation lobbyists, said Wednesday that she’s leaving Baker Donelson as a senior policy adviser at the end of this year to open her own shop.

Daschle was mum on whether her husband will serve as HHS secretary – as Democratic and health industry sources say – and wouldn’t comment on the timing of her job change, except to say she notified the firm last week and it sent out a note on her move on Wednesday.

Kathianne
01-31-2009, 12:34 PM
It is clear Tom is selling his services, and influence, to anyone and everyone he can

That is what I saying Kat

It gets better - from the link


President-elect Barack Obama’s apparent decision to tap former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle as secretary of health and human services may have already affected his wife’s lobbying career.

Linda Daschle, one of Washington’s most prominent aviation lobbyists, said Wednesday that she’s leaving Baker Donelson as a senior policy adviser at the end of this year to open her own shop.

Daschle was mum on whether her husband will serve as HHS secretary – as Democratic and health industry sources say – and wouldn’t comment on the timing of her job change, except to say she notified the firm last week and it sent out a note on her move on Wednesday.

What Daschle did making money was legal, not paying taxes is different. Should the laws change about lobbying and influence peddling? Yes. But they are different things than Blago.

red states rule
01-31-2009, 12:38 PM
What Daschle did making money was legal, not paying taxes is different. Should the laws change about lobbying and influence peddling? Yes. But they are different things than Blago.

Well I thought Pres Obama promised there would be no lobbists working in his administration

Oh well, what he said and what he does are different things

I see some of Blago in Tom Kat. We can agree to disagree

It should be a very interesting 4 years