Daschle Appointment Proving Troublesome for Obama

Tom Daschle is Barack Obama's firm choice to head the Health and Human Services Department of the Obama Administration. The belief is that Obama wants Daschle to lead the charge toward a new health care system for the United States - one that is more in line with the health care systems of other industrialized nations. All of this, of course, must be done while maintaining a high level of quality in health care - and ensuring that the insurers are compensated richly for their efforts in the bureaucracy.

But first, Daschle has to pay more than $128,000 in back taxes that cover the years of 2005 to 2007. Apparently, Obama's transition team flagged some creative accounting practices in his prior years' tax returns, then his accountant thought it would be wise to check on some other issues he'd been concerned about. Bottom line is that this is essentially a gift from the Obama administration and may work in Daschle's favor as it will take the focus away from the conflicts of interest that may exist within his new position.

Daschle has been working for the last few years as a high-paid consultant and policy adviser to the health care industry. He was bringing in tens of thousands as a speaker and over $2 Million in income from a leading Washington law firm specializing in health care issues. Any company that has been paying Daschle in recent years made a sound investment, as he will now be the most powerful man in health care for the foreseeable future. It will be most interesting to see how much or how little things change during Daschle's reign.