Good News: Obama HHS Secretary Has Tax Issues, Too

by Stephan Tawney on March 31, 2009

Another day, another Obama nominee who has trouble paying taxes on time. This time it’s Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Kathleen Sebelius, the current Democratic governor of Kansas. Wouldn’t ‘ya know, she made “unintentional errors” on her tax forms for, er, three different years.

In the letter, which was sent to senators and dated today, Sebelius wrote that she had made changes related to charitable contributions, business expenses and the sale of a home, according to the AP.

The wire service reports that she and her husband paid just over $7,000 in back taxes, along with $878 in interest, for the years 2005-2007.

One of the problems with her tax forms? She had “insufficient documentation” for business expense deductions. She also couldn’t produce documentation on multiple claimed charitable contributions over $250. Interestingly enough, Sebelius replaced Tom Daschle as HHS Secretary-desinate after his own tax issues led him to withdraw.

Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana) says that the nomination will go ahead as planned anyway. And after all, why shouldn’t it? The Senate confirmed our Treasury Secretary, US Trade Representative, and Labor Secretary who had tax issues of their own. By CBS’ count, this makes the sixth Obama nominee with tax problems. And with 17 of 18 Treasury positions yet to be filled, I doubt it’ll be the last.

More: Hot Air, Michelle Malkin.



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