Daschle Withdraws

Former Sen. Daschle has withdrawn his nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services. Good. Since the revelation that he had not paid over $140,000 in back taxes (which he has now paid, with interest) there has been rampant criticism (all very deserved) and speculation.

Here's my two cents (now only worth $.012 in this economy)... He should have dropped out days ago. Put simply, if I can manage to pay my taxes without (too much) griping, why can't he? This is simple, and it's a fundamental responsibility of all citizens of this country. If he can't hack that, I don't want him in my government. Period.

President Obama has promised us a new era of openness (or openisity, as President Bush might have said), and appointments such as this would just tarnish that.