Williston, ND Active Issues

He ended up paying back well over $140,000 in taxes AND interest. 

http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2009/01/31/daschles-late-tax-bill-140167/

I certainly hope they had to pay the same penalty and interest that anyone else would.

It is sad, isn't it. But then, we are all sinners. If you look hard enough, you can find something on anyone. The media being what it is, can turn just about anything into major crisis. If there is no news to report......make some.

I'm not saying these people were perfect and should have been left in the cabinet, I'm just thinking that on a slow news day, the media could take down a nominee for getting into a fist fight on the playground when they were 6! They are so good at this that they would have most of the country believing that the nominee was a gangster criminal by the end of the day.

Also, I think that when the IRS does an audit, it's probably a very very rare thing for them not to find a single thing wrong. Most of us would never knowingly cheat on taxes. But....the tax code is so blasted complicated that you practically need a degree in accounting to be absolutely certain that you've done everything just right and submitted all the right information to your accountant. For most honest people who have a complicated financial life, with several different types of income, employees, sales taxes in several states, etc., I'm betting you could probably find some mistake somewhere, if you look hard enough.
The way things are with the media, I think people have to be nuts to run for office. I suppose there are a few genuinely dishonest people out there trying to snag a top position, but, most of them are hard working, honest people, who just want to serve. That would not stop the media from making mince meat out of them if they can manage to find anything on them.

In my opinion, they only way you will ever find a candidate who has never made a mistake is if you find a candidate who has never done anything.