I like Victor Davis Hanson's take on certain people's tax problems (written before Daschle bowed out, but it still makes valid points):
The problems with Daschle and Geithner are this: If the liberal Secretary of the Treasury and the even more liberal would-be HHS Secretary did not pay their proper taxes, owed tens of thousands in back taxes, and (apparently) were only willing to address this issue when it was a matter of career advancement in Washington, what does that say about our honor-based tax code?
[. . .]
Any more of these stories and we will be on very dangerous ground, since the message is a terrible one to the American people: You pay your full amount, but our elites not only do not, but won't unless they get caught.
He concludes with the point that this is a good argument for a flat tax. Agreed, but many of the people who use the tax code's complications as a way to cheat would problably figure out how to cheat with a simpler system, too.
While we're on the subject, why is Daschle the one who is gone and Geithner the one who survived? Not only do Geithner's sins seem worse, he's in charge of the IRS now. We're going to have at least four years now of a "do as I say, not as I do" Treasury secretary.
Bonus: Jay Leno last night: "Today, Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination for secretary of Health and Human Services after being forced to pay $128,000 in back taxes. Daschle was extremely upset because now it looks like he paid his taxes for nothin'!"
