It was encouraging and refreshing to see President Barack Obama admit his mistakes Tuesday regarding his selection of former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle as health and human services secretary.
"I screwed up," Obama told CBS News, and repeated his mea culpa on four other news networks Tuesday.
Daschle withdrew his nomination Tuesday after reports surfaced that he failed to fully pay his taxes from 2005 to 2007. He paid $128,203 in back taxes and $11,964 in interest last month. Even more concerning, perhaps, were his close ties and personal profits in working with health care interests after his time in the Senate. That work, particularly because he was to be tasked to lead Obama's health care reform effort, smacked of the very kind of insider and special interest influence the president had campaigned against.
Daschle was right to withdraw. He never should have been selected in the first place, regardless of how effective he could have been in the administration.
Obama was right to accept the blame. He also was right when he said that it's more important how one responds to mistakes than that a mistake was made in the first place. The president must be more diligent in ensuring he lives up to his promise to voters of having an administration free of lobbyists and special interests.
It also would be nice if his administration was full of people who pay their taxes correctly and fully. Unfortunately, his treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, already has been confirmed despite the fact that he also had to pay back taxes he claimed he overlooked. He's in charge of the Internal Revenue Service. For that error, Geithner never should have been nominated, or confirmed, for the position.
But Geithner's ascension and Daschle's fall are history. What counts most now is whether Obama can do a better job of ensuring his administration lives up to the promises of change made on the campaign trail. Owning up to the mistakes are half the battle - one lacking in the previous administration.
"I screwed up," Obama told CBS News, and repeated his mea culpa on four other news networks Tuesday.
Daschle withdrew his nomination Tuesday after reports surfaced that he failed to fully pay his taxes from 2005 to 2007. He paid $128,203 in back taxes and $11,964 in interest last month. Even more concerning, perhaps, were his close ties and personal profits in working with health care interests after his time in the Senate. That work, particularly because he was to be tasked to lead Obama's health care reform effort, smacked of the very kind of insider and special interest influence the president had campaigned against.
Daschle was right to withdraw. He never should have been selected in the first place, regardless of how effective he could have been in the administration.
Obama was right to accept the blame. He also was right when he said that it's more important how one responds to mistakes than that a mistake was made in the first place. The president must be more diligent in ensuring he lives up to his promise to voters of having an administration free of lobbyists and special interests.
It also would be nice if his administration was full of people who pay their taxes correctly and fully. Unfortunately, his treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, already has been confirmed despite the fact that he also had to pay back taxes he claimed he overlooked. He's in charge of the Internal Revenue Service. For that error, Geithner never should have been nominated, or confirmed, for the position.
But Geithner's ascension and Daschle's fall are history. What counts most now is whether Obama can do a better job of ensuring his administration lives up to the promises of change made on the campaign trail. Owning up to the mistakes are half the battle - one lacking in the previous administration.
