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 One Mistake - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 2/2/09 — Tuesday, February 03, 2009 —  Q Thank you. On Tom Daschle -- I just want to step back just a minute -- I understand the President's remarks that he absolutely stands by him. But if you could just take a step back, you've got two nominees now who have had to pay more than $100,000 in back taxes. That's an awful lot of money. That's more than most people in the country make in a year, much less that they owe in taxes. What kind of a message does this send, do you think? How are people supposed to kind of get their heads around that and accept that as top people in your administration?MR. GIBBS: Well, let me also step back and say that no one in this building or in this administration is insensitive to the report that we were -- that was given this weekend about Senator Daschle. I think that includes Senator Daschle. He discovered a mistake, mistakes he'd made on his taxes, and he's paid now what he owed and paid interest on that. As it relates to Senator Daschle -- and I know he's meeting with the Finance Committee now -- we believe that the committee and the Senate as a whole will examine not just one mistake in a career, but look at that longer, three-decade career of public service, serving this country, serving the constituents both in South Dakota and across America. The President believes that Senator Daschle is the right person for the very important job of ensuring that we cut costs, reform our health care system, and finally give the American people in health care the outcomes that they deserve. We spend more money on health care than any other nation in the country [sic], but don't get the quality of care that many other countries get. So again, I think the Senate will lay a serious but corrected mistake against that three-decade career in public service. And in the end, the Finance Committee and the Senate as a whole will vote to extend his career in public service so that he can take on the very important task to America to reform that health care system and cut our costs. Q Is the President at all embarrassed by this? And does he see that there's any problem in the vetting that you all do -- MR. GIBBS: I don't think that we believe there's any problem in the vetting. When I say that no one is insensitive to the report in this building, that includes the President of the United States. He understands that. Obama Administration | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | Taxes | White House Press Corps Labels: Obama Administration, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, Taxes, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 4:18:00 PM
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