After closed meeting, Dems close ranks behind Daschle

Democratic Senate Finance Committee members on Monday united behind Tom Daschle's nomination to be HHS secretary following a closed-door meeting with the former Senate majority leader on tax issues that have bogged down his path to confirmation.

"His tax mistakes are regrettable. His tax mistakes do not change his qualifications to lead on healthcare reform. They do not change my support for his nomination," Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said.

Republicans on the committee refused to comment on Monday's meeting, but Baucus said he does expect some Republican votes in favor of Daschle when the committee takes up his nomination next week. "We didn't take a tally, but I think there will be some," Baucus said.

The Finance Committee will meet one week from Tuesday to consider Daschle's nomination.

Democrats repeatedly placed the blame on everyone except the nominee.

"Most of the mistakes, frankly, were the mistakes of his employer or the mistakes of charitable organizations that he contributed to who themselves had not done the appropriate paperwork," Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said.

Finance Health Subcommittee Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller, D-W.Va., added that "One of the main mistakes that is now being laid at Tom Daschle's feet was in fact made by a person with whom he had an arrangement with respect to a car. That person should have known, being highly skilled, frankly, that he should have given Tom Daschle a [Form] 1099."

Daschle was expected to breeze to confirmation, but revelations of $140,000 he recently paid in back taxes and interest as a result of vetting put the brakes on his nomination. The bulk of the back taxes stem from a car service provided by InterMedia Advisors, a private equity investment fund run by Leo Hindery Jr., a major Democratic fundraiser and friend of Daschle's.

Daschle wrote in a letter Sunday to Baucus and Finance Committee ranking member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, that he raised questions with his accountant in June as to whether the car and driver should count as reportable income, but his accountant did not remedy the tax returns until the transition team raised other questions about unsubstantiated charitable contributions in the fall.

"I would hope my mistake would be viewed in the context of 30 years of public service," Daschle said Monday after meeting with senators.

The charitable contributions totaled nearly $15,000 and income from the car service is valued at $255,000 during 2005, 2006 and 2007. InterMedia Advisors did not account for one month of consultation fees in 2007 valued at $83,000.

Baucus said he plans to publicly release the information discovered and reviewed in the vetting process "as soon as issues listed as outstanding in a draft version shared with committee members last Friday are completed." Those outstanding issues include whether travel and entertainment services Daschle received from educational, lending and philanthropic organizations should have been reported as income.

Finance Committee member John Kerry, D-Mass., said he does not believe the outstanding information indicates any problems.