Does Tom Daschle Deserve A Second Chance?
Susan Elaine Wheeler
February 10, 2009
The past eight years have been a major free fall from ethics, with the lack of transparency that had been operating our country. From our government to the major investors and banks, we´re going through a transition of great importance. As we acknowledge and define our values, principles, standards and the ethics that are needed for running our country and the major U.S. corporations, who deserves a second chance?
Do you really want the bank managers or CEO´s to remain in control of those failing businesses, where banks were setting up homeowners for failure and Wall Street was undermining the foundation of our country? Could matters be made any worst by paying bonuses to those responsible for damaging our economy? The financial indiscretions that were made and the price that war has cost us, have bankrupted our country and our souls.
We have Tom Daschle´s withdrawal as the nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services. Which I agree he did the right thing when he stepped down. The question is, has he made amends and set the right example of what it means to make a mistake, pay the price to correct the issue, be publicly humiliated, making apologies to the American people and stepping down?
Do we look at the whole person, keeping in perspective all the good they have done for our country and are we willing to give this person a second chance?
When you look at the particulars, "That the taxes not paid were on the personal use of a car and driver provided to him by a private equity firm for which he consulted. Although the firm — headed by a major Democratic donor — had not issued a form 1099 for the value of the car service. He paid some $140,000 in back taxes and interest on Jan. 2 to settle several tax problems — and he acknowledges owing more." According to the New York Times, on Tom Daschle´s withdrawal as nominee and adding, "Wondering what had become of President Obama's high ethical standards."
On one hand we have wide spread corruption that is taking hundreds of billions of dollars to stabilize. In Daschle´s case, an issue that is being blown out of proportion because he was on President´s Obama´s team. The hypocrisy and double standards need to stop, so we can find our way out of this economic mess and focus on what the best people can achieve.
President Obama is trying to reset a standard in our country, which we should all value and want to engage, especially when you consider the state of affairs our country is in right now. He's trying to raise the standards where standards have been obsolete. This is a big challenge and one person does not make up the ethics backbone of this nation.
The New York Times also states, "It should not be hard for the new president to find high-quality appointees to both of these posts. Before he names them, he might have his team do a little more thorough scrubbing of their tax returns. Americans have the right to know that their appointed leaders pay their full share of taxes."
How does Daschle´s mistake compare to the crimes against humanity, that those CEO´s committed, with so many people losing their life´s savings or no longer have a home to live in?
Would it be in our country´s best interest right now, during this transitional period, that we all keep in mind that there are no perfect people? We´re all trying to do our best under these extreme circumstances. Part of the journey and the growth is in learning from our mistakes and moving forward with these lessons.
We have to determine what is wrong and then decide how we´re going to make it right. Our humility and determination can be more graceful now with the commitment to help American rise above. Feeling a greater sense of responsibility, do Americans agree that we can give a second chance to those that prove worthy? Along with that second chance, comes the total commitment, to all the new ethic reforms.
All quotes in this article are from the New York Times article, The Travails of Tom Daschle, published Feb 2 and updated Feb 3, 2009.
Susan Elaine Wheeler
2009 Creative-Perspective-Solutions
Do you really want the bank managers or CEO´s to remain in control of those failing businesses, where banks were setting up homeowners for failure and Wall Street was undermining the foundation of our country? Could matters be made any worst by paying bonuses to those responsible for damaging our economy? The financial indiscretions that were made and the price that war has cost us, have bankrupted our country and our souls.
We have Tom Daschle´s withdrawal as the nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services. Which I agree he did the right thing when he stepped down. The question is, has he made amends and set the right example of what it means to make a mistake, pay the price to correct the issue, be publicly humiliated, making apologies to the American people and stepping down?
Do we look at the whole person, keeping in perspective all the good they have done for our country and are we willing to give this person a second chance?
When you look at the particulars, "That the taxes not paid were on the personal use of a car and driver provided to him by a private equity firm for which he consulted. Although the firm — headed by a major Democratic donor — had not issued a form 1099 for the value of the car service. He paid some $140,000 in back taxes and interest on Jan. 2 to settle several tax problems — and he acknowledges owing more." According to the New York Times, on Tom Daschle´s withdrawal as nominee and adding, "Wondering what had become of President Obama's high ethical standards."
On one hand we have wide spread corruption that is taking hundreds of billions of dollars to stabilize. In Daschle´s case, an issue that is being blown out of proportion because he was on President´s Obama´s team. The hypocrisy and double standards need to stop, so we can find our way out of this economic mess and focus on what the best people can achieve.
President Obama is trying to reset a standard in our country, which we should all value and want to engage, especially when you consider the state of affairs our country is in right now. He's trying to raise the standards where standards have been obsolete. This is a big challenge and one person does not make up the ethics backbone of this nation.
The New York Times also states, "It should not be hard for the new president to find high-quality appointees to both of these posts. Before he names them, he might have his team do a little more thorough scrubbing of their tax returns. Americans have the right to know that their appointed leaders pay their full share of taxes."
How does Daschle´s mistake compare to the crimes against humanity, that those CEO´s committed, with so many people losing their life´s savings or no longer have a home to live in?
Would it be in our country´s best interest right now, during this transitional period, that we all keep in mind that there are no perfect people? We´re all trying to do our best under these extreme circumstances. Part of the journey and the growth is in learning from our mistakes and moving forward with these lessons.
We have to determine what is wrong and then decide how we´re going to make it right. Our humility and determination can be more graceful now with the commitment to help American rise above. Feeling a greater sense of responsibility, do Americans agree that we can give a second chance to those that prove worthy? Along with that second chance, comes the total commitment, to all the new ethic reforms.
All quotes in this article are from the New York Times article, The Travails of Tom Daschle, published Feb 2 and updated Feb 3, 2009.
Susan Elaine Wheeler
2009 Creative-Perspective-Solutions
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