President Obama has confessed publicly, albeit somewhat inelegantly, that he made mistakes in the choice of three key members of his Cabinet, all of whom were found to have avoided paying part of their taxes. To his credit, Obama has accepted the blame for these flawed picks. His nominees for health secretary, Tom Daschle, and budget and spending reform leader Nancy Killifer have both withdrawn their names while last week Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was confirmed after admitting, apologizing for and settling $34,000 of back taxes. Though the new president sought to turn these embarrassments to some advantage by saying there were going to be no double standards on his watch — everybody had to pay their taxes — commentators are still suggesting Obama has been damaged, not least because he sold his new administration as being the dawn of a new era of responsibility. Tax dodgers don’t look responsible.
But although Obama is taking the rap for these errors, the truth is their genesis does not lie directly with him. He made the choices — in the case of Tom Daschle an inspired selection of a man who really stood a chance of reforming the chaotic health system — but it was not down to him to do the background spade work to ensure that these nominees would pass muster when put forward for confirmation. That job rested with his administration team, the key leader of which is his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. This triple error in reality rests at Emanuel’s door. Obama may, therefore, already be wondering if appointing this man, an avowed Zionist, to such a powerful position was after all a good idea, if that is he had any choice in the matter. The two men, both from Chicago, are reportedly good friends, but not apparently friends enough for Emanuel to endorse Obama during his campaign for the nomination, since he is also a good friend of the Clintons. He, therefore, declined to endorse either candidate. But still he got this key White House post and Clinton, who discredited herself with her anti-Obama rhetoric as it became clear she was losing to him, got the job of secretary of state.
Is it possible to see already the fault line that could undermine a president who carries the hopes of so many decent people around the world? Chicago Democrat politics has long been notorious for its payola and dirty tricks. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is currently being impeached on charges that he tried to sell the new president’s old Senate seat to the highest bidder. Antoin “Tony” Rezko, another reported close friend and fund-raiser for Obama as well as Blagojevich, was last summer convicted on multiple charges of fraud and corruption. Rezko was at one time linked to Obama’s purchase of an upmarket Chicago home, allegations vigorously denied by the Obamas.
At the moment the world still believes that Obama rose unbesmirched through Chicago’s dubious Democrat politics through sheer intelligence, vision and personality. But letting his aides hire three tax cheats at the very least questions his judgment.
