“Mr. Daschle withdrew a day after Mr. Obama unequivocally declared that he would stand behind him as his problems over income tax arrears were scrutinized on Capitol Hill. The nominee’s tax issues had developed into a troublesome distraction for the president, who entered the White House pledging to hold his people to the highest ethical standards.
Source: New York Times
Daschle was the second candidate today to withdraw from a high White House office due to Tax reasons. This, along with Timothy Geithner, makes three Obama nominees with tax issues. So, are these crooks or just people who made mistakes?
I’m currently in the middle of my taxes this year and I tend to think it’s the latter. I’m using the H&R Block online Tax Wizard and I’m still getting to points where I simply do not know the answer. Now, I’m a 25 year old who graduated from a top public university with a 3.5+ GPA. Thing is, no one ever taught me how to do taxes. I’ve taken two semesters of Calculous, Statistics and Finance, but nothing about how to do taxes.
It’s not even just Taxes that I was never taught, but other important adult processes. No one seems to have a very good grasp on how Credit scores work. I recently fumbled my way thru a home-buying process with getting a mortgage. All of these things seem pretty important.
This is why I’m not surprised that so many people have gotten in trouble with foreclosures and debt with this lack of knowledge. It’s also why I’m not shocked to see people of such importance with Tax mistakes. I think these are the type of issues that need to be taught in High School. I also think we need to have a Tax system that is a lot simpler. If major politicians are failing with this system, how is a normal middle class citizen expected to not make these mistakes?
