Doing the right thing

Sitting here far removed from the inner workings of our nation's capital, I thought the selection of Tom Daschle to be President Obama's Secretary of Health and Human Services was a brilliant move. He was, after all, the author of a book on health care reform and this thoughts on this subject seem to mirror the President's. Not only that, as a former Senate Majority leader he knew how Congress worked and already had the respect of that branch of the government.

Then reports came to light about his failure to report certain incomes and to pay taxes on that income. What was even more troubling to me was that this income came from health-related companies he would have to do business with as HHS secretary. I winced. I am not saying that his ties to the industry would cloud his judgment, only that the subject should never come up in the first place.

So I was glad to see this morning that Mr. Daschle had withdrawn his name from nomination. It was the right thing to do.

Speaking of doing the right thing, however, makes me realize that President Obama and his team needs to do a better job on background checks of its appointees. Mr. Daschle's withdrawal immediately followed the withdrawal Nancy Killefer as White House Chief Performance Officer. And much earlier New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson withdrew his name as Commerce Secretary because of questions about his handling of state contracts. One of the reasons I was so enthusiastic about an Obama presidency was that I expected him to bring ethics back into the White House, so these ethical road humps have become a little too numerous for my liking.