Do Any of These People Pay Their Taxes?*

It must be considered a form of stupidity for a chief executive to habitually nominate lawbreakers as cabinet officials or other high-level appointees, wouldn't you think?

First there was the curious case of Timothy Geithner, our newly confirmed Treasury Secretary, initially refused to pay self-employment taxes for which he was reimbursed while working for the International Monetary Fund. Only when audited by the Internal Revenue Service did he pay overdue taxes (but no interest or penalties) for 2003 and 2004. He ignored the 2001 and 2002 debt altogether until forced by appearances to pay up (again, sans interest or penalties) after Obama nominated him. (One Politico reader points out that because Geithner didn't pay those years until after the statute of limitations ran out, he may actually get the money back.)

Earlier this afternoon, Nancy Killefer pulled her nomination to be the nation's first "Chief Performance Officer" because of an apparent failure to pay some or all of the required payroll and/or unemployment taxes on her household staff.

Now we have the latest and greatest scandal, that of former Senator Tom Daschle, who was approximately the gazillionth Obama nominee/appointee to have been exposed as a tax cheat for failing to pay taxes on perks provided to him in a prior job. Daschle withdrew his nomination to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.

You have to hand it to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, nominated to head the Department of Commerce. At least his downfall wasn't precipitated by tax evasion, just a grand jury investigation into his alleged role in a pay-to-play scandal.

But it does add to the questions about whether Obama keeps company with any ethical people at all. Perhaps being from Chicago, he doesn't think ethics are all that necessary.

*Tip of the hat to Glenn Reynolds, who asks this question on almost a daily basis.