While I do care about Tom Daschle's apparent inability to pay his taxes...

... I care about this more.

From AP:

On another matter, a financial disclosure form Daschle filed about a week ago showed that he made more than $200,000 in the past two years speaking to members of the health care industry that Obama wants him to reform.

The speaking fees were just a portion of the more than $5.2 million the former senator earned over the past two years as he advised health insurers and hospitals and worked in other industries such as energy and telecommunications, according to a financial statement filed with the Office of Government Ethics.

Among the health care interest groups paying Daschle for speeches were America's Health Insurance Plans, $40,000 for two speeches; CSL Behring, $30,000; the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, $16,000, and the Principal Life Insurance Co., $15,000.

And, of course, there is always Tom's wife Linda, who abruptly decided to end her own lobbying career right after Barack Obama won the election and rumors started flying that dear old Tom was in line to get HHS. From MSNBC:

NBC NEWS has confirmed with Linda Daschle, Tom Daschle’s wife, that she is leaving her lobbying firm where she has specialized in aviation and defense issues at the end of the year. She is starting her own public policy firm on transportation and communication issues.

In her new firm, she will not lobby.

In the past, she had been a registered lobbyist for American Airlines, Boeing, Cleveland International Airport, Lockheed Martin and other corporations.

She is also a former acting administrator of the FAA.

So here's the thing.

For Republicans it was always OK to appoint lobbyists and profiteers to positions of power if they were good Republicans.

Democrats apparently have the same rules.

Comments

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