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Wednesday, February 4, 2009
No-consequence responsibility
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Janet Reno’s back. The language may be a bit coarser, but just as the former Attorney General took “responsibility” for the debacle at the Branch Davidian compound at Waco where 82 people died in 1993, President Barack Obama declares he is taking responsibility for the failed confirmation of Tom Daschle and Nancy Killefer.
Both Daschle, nominated to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Killefer, nominated to be the administration’s chief performance officer, withdrew because of tax troubles.
“I screwed up,” said Obama, using a coarse synonym for “failed” or “mishandled” — an offense prominent people in public life really should avoid when acknowledging error of judgment or omission. “I take responsibility for this mistake.”
As has become customary in public life, taking responsibility is without consequence, as was the case with Reno. It’s a phrase that means nothing more than: “Get this story off the front pages and move on to something that’s either more favorable, or less harmful, to my image.”
In this instance, the failure by Daschle and Killefer to pay income taxes owed drew attention to the business-as-usual world of Washington where prominent politicians like Daschle get rich off their name and political connections. It also drew attention to the administration’s vetting process that failed to uncover the two nominees’ tax problems.
Daschle paid $140,167 in back taxes and interest just last month for deducting more in charitable contributions than he gave, for the personal use of a car and driver and for consulting work. It is interesting about liberals that they insist on heaping the costs of charity onto taxpayers — as they’re now doing in the $900 billion bill they’re deceitfully calling “economic stimulus” — but they weave-and-dodge on their obligation to share the burden. Their notion is that “the rich” — and they’re not, no matter their income — should pay and the designated “poor” should receive.
By now, with a Republican in the White House, the tax scandals surrounding nominees would have been linked as evidence that wealthy supporters and the politically-connected constituted a culture of corruption in Washington. But that was before “change” came to DC and before a courageous man stood before the cameras and said “I take responsibility,” lest the little people in America get the idea that there are “two sets of rules — you know, one for prominent people and one for ordinary folks who have to pay their taxes.” For the record, the President affirms, “there aren’t.”
