Obama's NEW HHS Nominee Has Tax Problems

The Democratic Party is overflowing with scandal. Not one person in the mainstream media is connecting the dots and proving that the party of change is actually the party of ethics problems, so let me give it a shot:

• The Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee (Chris Dodd) took "funky" loans from one of the banks his committee is supposedly regulation. The Chairman of the House Banking Committee (Barney Frank) refused regulation on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac until it was much too late. This may or may not have to do with the fact that his former lover (and still close friend) was a high ranking executive at Fannie. Congressman Charlie Rangel is the head of the House Ways and Means Committee (they write tax law) had a problem paying taxes.

• Tim Geithner, who was picked to be Treasury Secretary (and new boss of the IRS) "forgot" to pay $34,000 in taxes.

• Former Senator and "non lobbyist-lobbyist" Tom Daschle was designated to run the Department of Health and Human Services got a private car and driver and didn't know he was supposed to pay $100,000 dollars in taxes on it

• Nancy Killefer chosen by President Obama to be the first Chief Performance Officer of the United States withdrew her name from consideration because she too has a history of not paying taxes.

The truth of it all is if these people were Republicans,the press would be saying the party was wracked with scandal. But this is the Democratic Party, the most favored party of the media, so that will never happen.

And now the NEW Health and Human Services Nominee Kathleen Sebelius announced that she had to amend her tax returns:

Another Obama Nominee Has Tax Issues
Posted by Brian Montopoli

(CBS)Kathleen Sebelius, President Obama's nominee to become Health and Human Services secretary, said in a letter obtained by the Associated Press that she made "unintentional errors" on her taxes and has corrected her returns from three different years.

In the letter, which was sent to senators and dated today, Sebelius wrote that she had made changes related to charitable contributions, business expenses and the sale of a home, according to the AP.

The wire service reports that she and her husband paid just over $7,000 in back taxes, along with $878 in interest, for the years 2005-2007.

Tom Daschle, the president's first HHS nominee, previously withdrew from consideration over tax issues, as did chief performance officer nominee Nancy Killefer.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, meanwhile, were confirmed despite issues related to their taxes.

UPDATE, 6:37 PM: CBS News has obtained Sebelius' letter to the Senate Finance Committee. She writes in it that she and her husband hired a Certified Public Accountant to review their returns after her nomination and that the CPA uncovered the errors, after which they amended their returns.

On the charitable contributions front, she writes that she could not locate three acknowledgment letters out of her 49 charitable contributions in excess of $250, and thus eliminated those three deductions.

She also writes that she had "insufficient documentation" for some of her tax dedications for business expenses, though because of the Alternative Minimum Tax they did not affect the amount owed. She also said she mistakenly paid off a home loan that included deductable mortgage interest.

Senator Max Baucus, who chairs the Finance Committee, released a letter backing Sebelius almost immediately after the tax issues came out.

“There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Governor Sebelius has the political experience, determination, and bipartisan work ethic to get the job done with Congress this year," he said. "She’s the right person for the job and I look forward to hearing from her at the Finance Committee’s hearing on Thursday.”