Daschle Done: Big Blow to Obama

Good news.

Maybe if Obama nominates each and every current and former senator and congressman we will be able to collect millions in evaded taxes and finally let the congress know that we want honesty and that they are there to represent us, not themselves.

usa,
Just like Bush did with Harriet Miers.

If we want to fix the economy, have Obama continue to prove he is such a great judge of charector, and have him nominate some more Dems to the cabinet, and eventually the Deficit will be paid by all the back-taxes!!! 53% of you out there voted for someone who freely associated and profited from crooks, racists, and terrorists, and yet you are surprised by any of this???

Oh, you are brilliant usa. Obama picks the best people to do a job, but they happen to have tax issues, so under the “bus” they go. Bush picked the worse qualified political cronies to do jobs in the government (i.e. Michael Brown for FEMA) (Gonzalez for Justice), and we could go on and on, but because they didn’t have any tax issues (that we know about) they got to hang around for 8 years (or less), but still managed to totally destroy our country and put us in the mess we are in now.

Actually wouldn’y it be better to have a health professional in charge HSS instead of career politician, or I guess that would make too much sense. I gues that would like having a farmer in charge Agricultre and working person in charge of labor. No, lets have just politicians and laywers do it. REAL CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN

Rick
Miers was un-qualified for the position, not an admitted criminal!! (and tax fraud is a crime, in case the Democrats forgot…oh…it seems they all have!!)

The ONLY thing newsworthy about this “breaking news” is that Daschle hasn’t yet resigned from the Senate, and that charges haven’t yet been brought for tax evasion.
Wesley Snipes got three YEARS for his mistake!!!!
Martha Stewart got 5 months for her mistake!!!
Willie Nelson was penniless after he finally settled up with the IRS after his mistake!!
Leona Helmsley spent 4 years in prison for her mistake!!
Darryl Strawberry was sentenced to 6 months house arrest for his mistake!!
What will Daschle get??? To REMAIN IN CONGRESS??????
I don’t want to hear yet ANOTHER apology from yet another congressman who got caught thinking they were above the law! WITHDRAWING isn’t NEARLY good enough!! I want to hear a RESIGNATION, or even better, an impeachment by your home state of South Dakota!!! Illinois shed itself of Blago, SD can certainly shed itself of Daschle!
Daschle must forfeiture all of his retirement benefits, make full payment of all penalties and interest for back taxes – and let’s go back the full 3 years… and if there’s a criminal pattern in those returns, then lets go back even further than that!!!
Wesley Snipes was sentenced to 3 years in prison; as a PUBLIC SERVANT with a fiduciary responsibly to EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN, and a responsibility to LEAD BY EXAMPLE, Daschle certainly deserves NO LESS treatment than what Snipes got!!!

Dr.Howard Dean for Health Secretary!
He’s be perfect, he’s ethical, a former governor, a physician, and he’d balance the three Republicans Obama has in his cabinet. Something for the left, c’mon Barack!

How do Democrats spell “tax fraud”?
H
O
N
E
S
T
M
I
S

Me thinks that USA is not happy with Obama being elected president. DEAL WITH IT!

How do Democrats spell “tax fraud”?
H
O
N
E
S
T
M
I
S
T
A
K
E
S

Don’t forget Charlie Rangel!!! He is the king of corruption, yet he is writing tax laws. What the hell?

So when are these politicians going to get fined and serve prison time for their “honest mistakes”???
Seems that some other famous celebs made honest mistakes too and had to pay for them, not get cabinet positions.

Fiercely_Independent: Daschle is NOT currently in the Senate. The people of South Dakota voted him out years ago. He is currently working as a lawyer/lobbyist in Washington. I agree with that he probably should spend time in jail for his tax evasion, but don’t go overboard. HE is NOT in the Senate as of right now.

THANK GOD! I was just getting ready to regret my Obama vote. Trust is essential, and as it is, tax laws favor the wealthy. Why should they get by with cheating like these people have?

Time to pick Dr. Dean to get it done.

At some point, the people will begin to realize that they are being played for fools. The two major parties are both controlled by the Ruling Class, which are the people getting the multi-trillion dollar bailouts. If you want to know who the puppet masters are, look at who controls the money: the private banking cartel known as the Federal Reserve.

Is the change I am supposed to believe in? An all-star lineup of TAX CHEATS? Geithner, Daschle, Killefer, Rangel…I can’t keep track of all of them.

Our problems today are the result of this nation’s leader, President Obama. The buck stops with him. I hope he starts leading instead of making terrible appointments.

geecee,
As you and the rest of your liberal buddies have told us…Obama Won Get over it.
Bush is not President anymore son, Get Over it !!!!
This is about Obama’s promises, Obama’s ethics rules, Obama’s Choices & Obama’s Vetting team!
Yuo want to whine & complain, head down to 1600 Penn. Ave!!!!

Bush and his administration were never held accountable for acts far worse than this. To me this just shows that Repubs love to air dirty laundry. It makes them feel superior, but we and they all know they are just a bunch of HYPOCRITES!!

Bush is gone. But you’re all correct. We should just blame him anyway. While we’re at it, let’s just blame the leaders of World War II, an event which has largely shaped the world as we know it today. By damn, it’s Christopher Columbus’ fault!!! He discovered this place to begin with!!! You guys need to get over it. Obama is president. These are HIS problems now. He needs to shape up or resign.

LifesAJourney….get off the Bush Bashing bandwagon! This is all Obama’s doing! This is his change, change for worse! If this would have been Bush or another Republican you would have been singing a whole different toon!

“This is about Obama’s promises, Obama’s ethics rules, Obama’s Choices & Obama’s Vetting team!”
Do you really think the Daschle tax thing was a surprise to Obama. I doubt it. But he wanted Daschle for the job, which shows balls. And it’s a bummer that he’s not getting him. But I imagine Daschle will still have a hand in writing the reform bill.

Hey LIfesaJourney — still drinking the Kool-Aid? Guess what? You can’t blame Bush anymore!!! Get a life!!!!!

Karen…don’t worry, Obama will destroy all of us on his own. Him and his croonies! Ayers, Wright, Daschle, Pelosi, Reid and company!

Wow!!
It is Obama’s pick, yet it is Bush’s fault?!?
Only in the poisoned mind of a liberal. Put down the koolaid before…nevermind, bottom’s up dude!

BLAME BUSH…it’s all his fault! LOL! Bush is going to look great over the next year. Hey…I’m looking for a roommate…maybe I can post a roommate wanted ad in the GITMO daily since they’re going to be looking for new homes…somewhere!

“Howard Dean would be a Great pick for HHS.”
I imagine he’s next, unless he has reservations about Obama’s reform ideas.

Guess what? I don’t care what Bush did! He’s not in office!! Obama is, and he is electing every tax cheat in America! Wake up.

Awww! I’m going to miss those red Sally Jessy Raphael eyeglasses.

NONAME
You dont care what Bush did well you should he and the Republicans are the very reason we are in this mess!

MNResident – My bad… I’m in Germany, and didn’t know South Dakota had wisened up since I left ;)
I still can’t believe that he actually expects us to believe that he was sitting around his house one night, reviewing his old tax returns, looking feverishly for an opportunity to pay some more… and he discovered a mistake… no, an opportunity… to may MORE!! Yeah, right!!!
JAIL!!!! That’s where he belongs!!

Geecee: you are so right….it was ok for the incompetents Bush picked…and all this bickering…just goes to show you the republicans can’t work with the President…it’s like they want him to fail…every congressman and senator should be fully investigated now….

These tax issues are not issues of evasion they are improper filings. These people were not attempting to get out of paying taxes per se, but filed thier returns with errors. Dashle has already paid the difference with penalties and that is all that is required.
Most American’s tax filings are pretty straight forward, yet many of them are filed with mistakes, it is just that they are never audited and revealed.
I’m not saying that this excuses the mistakes, but I’m trying to point out how easily this can happen to anyone. So many of those out there trying to demonize this man are themselves ‘living in glass houses’.
What does concern me is Obama’s vetting process.

REPUBLICANS HELD POWER FOR 16 YEARS All throughout the Clinton Admini and 6 years In the Bush Admin,Up until 2 years ago when the Dems took over. Are you telling me It only took 2 years for this mess to occur LAUGHABLE!

@LifesAJourney,
Simple…
If you think they did wrong.. lock ‘em up and try them. Hell, you all have been in control of the House and the Senate for 2 years + and all I have seen is whining. If they are crooks.. Charge Them, Arrest them, and Put them in Jail. I am all for it, if you stop yer whining over it!

Shianne: You are soooo right….Bush got away with murder literally, all the deaths in Iraq, but they aren’t even letting Obama start office, only in a few weeks, and they are bombarding him.
Even when Clinton was in, the way Ken Star went after him for an indescretion between him and his wife, but Bush got away with murder…why?

pt; from what I know of Harry Reid and his real estate dealings in Nevada, believe me, he doesn’t want to hear that Obama’s tagged him for a position. LOL!!!

This cabinet position should be filled by a PHYSICIAN and not another friggin politician or lawyer. My sister is a physician, and she could write a novel on how to improve the health care industry. One obvious problem … way too many administrators (dictating stupid policy) and not enough medical professionals.

GET OFF THE KOOL AID lefties…these aren’t stupid people…they clearly know they owed taxes. Our Treasury Secretary made a mistake on his taxes…well wake up…he’s incharge of the IRS now…what will his next mistake be????

Dems are so backward they must continue to blame Bush for the problems of the BHO administration and his decision to nominate tax cheats. Newsflash: This mess is ALL of Obama’s making. Bush, Rove, et al, did not cause any one of these corrupt politicians to cheat on their taxes. The Dems brought it on themselves!

Hey, Shianne, who railroaded the UN into imposing sanctions on Iraq until Saddam allowed UN weapons inspectors into the country to confirm that he had dismantled his WMD program? Who bombed Iraq first – supported by those same UN sanctions – in the failed quest to rid Saddam Hussein of his WMD? Who issued student visas to terrorists so they could learn how to fly (not take off or land) jumbo jets? Who failed to respond to multiple terrorist attacks in Yemen, Africa and Saudi Arabia, each of which was designed to test our resolve and guage our response to an attack on US interests? Who abused the power of his office to start a war in order to avoid a Senate vote to impeach him, after the House had already voted to do so? Wait…. can I have a drum roll please… no, it wasn’t Bush…. yeah!!! It was BUBBA!!!! And now his wife is the Secretary of State…
Look, I’m not a Republican, and I’m sure as hell not a Democrat… there is more than enough blame to pass around to ALL OF THEM IN WASHINGTON. It’s WASY PAST time to clean house… there just happens to be more Dems to throw out at the moment…
THROW ‘EM ALL OUT!!!

and no name, of course we can blame Bush because that’s whose fault it is we are in this mess! Pres Obama has a horrific job ahead of him…why do you think we have all of these problems? Because of the Repubs and BUsh for EIGHT YEARS!

Angie,
Talk about circular logic.Guess what? Bush isn’t in office anymore. Get a new argument, because you sound pathetic.

“Chimps on crystal meth, film at 11.”

WOW….
Lberals…..Whine, Whine, Whine…..
Dont you people have anything in your little tricks bag besides its all Bush’s fault???
You people are pathetic, your golden boy rants and raves for 2 years about the utopia he going to create, you fools buy into it, and then when it finally becomes totally obvious that he is just another politician, you run back into the corner, put your head on the wall and cry “Bush, Bush, It’s all his fault!”
LOL, last time I looked, you controlled congress, you have the upper hand. So why are all these people falling like flies? According to you (Shianne, Angie…etc) the republicans are not even relevant, so why are these people bailing?
why sould anyone care if Obama set up the rules by which he gets judged now, just slide em thru. Even he knows one is bad, two is a mess, but there…four…etc… My bet is Daschle was told fall on the sword. Same for Killefer.
This is why rushing things through is NOT always a good idea!

Long T: Did Bush force Obama to nominate a bunch of tax cheats for his admin.? No, I don’t think so. Wake up.

AND after reading the comments posted here from BOTH sides I am so very disheartened.
There are politicians at this very minute reaching across party lines to try to fix our economy and our country’s problems and here you are like SMALL CHILDREN sniping and bickering.
You make me sick……

Barb and Angie…
Our two little liberal ostriches!!!
Their little heads buried in the sand with no clue at all.
They pop up every once in awhile to chirp out….
“It’s all Bush’s fault!”
“It’s all Bush’s fault!”
“It’s all Bush’s fault!”
we could be blogging about the Super Bowl, and one of them would just chirp in….
“It’s all Bush’s fault!”
“It’s all Bush’s fault!”
LOL, keep it up ladies, two weeks into this “new era” and you guys are already crackin up!

“and here you are like SMALL CHILDREN sniping and bickering.”
I prefer chimps on crystal meth.

Angie,
Check the paper — Bush ain’t in office, hon. Your posts show that you are one-dimensional and completely lacking in intelligence. Try again, dear.

“LOL, keep it up ladies, two weeks into this “new era” and you guys are already crackin up!”
No, he’s just appointing who he wants to appoint and adjusting for however he can’t get through. I actually like it. I wish they’d get better accountants, but I like that he’s willing to give it a shot if it’s who he wants. I really don’t think it’s costing him anything.

“If I hadn’t paid my taxes, my arse would be in jail,”
No you wouldn’t and the fact that you think you would is a good example of just how far you exist from reality.
“…are criminals who are completely lacking in character and integrity”
Lol. Yeah, okay.

“we could be blogging about the Super Bowl, and one of them would just chirp in….
“It’s all Bush’s fault!”"
Tell me you recognize that there is a much higher percentage of that type of person sitting on your side of the room. Because it’s pretty clear. Well, it couldn’t be anymore clear in this thread, but it’s pretty clear in society in general, too.

You can’t blame Bush for Obama’s crappy hiring decisions. Anyone who does has a walnut for a brain.

Angie, a tax cheat is by definition someone who sells us out for his or her own wealth. Duh!!! Every withheld dollar increases his or her own wealth at the expense of the public.

“First of all, Daschle has paid the taxes, Special noname. Secondly, YOUR taxes probably amount to a total of like $6 and the IRS doesn’t put people in jail for $6.
———————————
Silky_Johnson ,
OOOOOOOOO….Silky is losing it….putting down people who pay taxes….LOL

You liberals are about as consistent with your views as San Francisco always having rain! In 1996, Al Gore famously said “Senator Dole has offered you a bridge to the past, but we offer you a bridge to the future!!!” I’m paraphrasing. The cry in 96 was look to the future!!! Now, the cry is LOOK TO THE PAST!!! ITs HIS FAULT!!!!!!! This is why the number one criticism against Democrats is their inconsistency on any given issue, except whatever side benefits their own selfish agenda.

Why no Crying And whining from you Right Wingers when Your President Lied to You,Spied on you, And Took your Tax Dollars For Bailout Bonuses?
———————————–
Chirp…Chirp…Chirp

MIKE C
I am in No means blaming Bush for Obamas Picks, And quite Frankily I was very Disapointed when Obama stood By him. I am however Blaming your Former President and your Party for the Mess we are in, and To be Honest with you Half the country is Bush and his Kickbacks have drained our Economy as well as our country!

Hey Angie, my dear dunderhead….
Your new President is only two weeks into office, and has already broken his campaign promise not to hire lobbiests….
Change, change, change…… OMG I’m so very, very excited!

I remember Obama saying that anyone he employs would have to go through rigorous background checks. How did these two (this week) pass?
Good idea to nominate all of the Washington insiders so that their dirty laundry can come out and we can “clean out” the congress and senate.
It is criminal to ask all of us, scraping by, to pay higher taxes when the rich polititians haven’t even been paying taxes before the crisis?
Fine ‘em and lock ‘em up!

Also…Angie, my dear…
Remember, the executive does not write law…the congress writes law. The housing crisis can be directly linked back to YOUR Barnaby Ffffffwank, and Chwistofuer Dowd…..and the LAWS THEY wrote that forced banks to loan to people who could not afford.
Bush’s fault comes by his being asleep at the wheel to warn the rest of the country about the mess before it came crashing down.

The biggest problem facing democrats is that they are under the illusion that mainstream America wants swift passage of a liberal agenda, hence the election of Pres. Obama. As they will surely learn, Americans elected Obama because they were so angry about the economy and blamed former Pres. Bush. With this rapid failure by the Obama Administration to conduct an honest, open, and fair administration, Pres. Obama shouldn’t upack too quickly. Pelosi will be out in two years; and Obama will be gone in four.

angie,
Darlin…Chill….
Take a really deep breath. Now try to remove those foolish partisan glasses for a few moments….Look in the general direction of the state of Massachusetts! See that bumbling clown, Barney Frank? He has a LOT more to do with why we are in this mess than GWB! You dont want to believe it, but it is the truth. His dealings with Freddie/Fannie, his blocking of reorms by Bush & the republicans, his input on TARP and the current Stimulus packages….this fool has his hands all over this mess.
Throw in the fact that even today he is still blabbering about Republicans opposing his pork pile, along with other incredibly stupid ideas such as cuttinn the defnse budget by 25% when we have trrops in 2 seperate operations overseas! This guy is downright dangerous to this country!
Now i’m sure your going to go back to chirping your day away, but at least take a few minutes and realize that there is blame on BOTH sides of the aisle here!

( : Yes, chimps on crystal meth, a good analogy. Wonder how many of them even hold jobs…..

There’s no getting around it, you liberals just hate the GOP. You guys like taxes, we don’t. You want the government to help you, we don’t. You guys are the takere we are the makers. You like Barney Frank types, we don’t. You guys like show we like substance. You want to reason with terrorists we want to kill them. You want someone to tell you how to run your life, we don’t. You want, You want, You want. We want nothing except to be left alone

Barb: You are soooo right….Hillary, Biden, (insert all other Democrats in Obama’s office that voted to go to Iraq here) got away with murder literally, all the deaths in Iraq, but they aren’t even letting Obama start office, only in a few weeks, and they are BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH.

I was laughing at the San Francisco comment all by itself.
A “legal conclusion”…I’m not even sure I know what that is, but I said “who knows…maybe”…I’m pretty sure that means “who knows…maybe” and not “it is libel.”

“There’s no getting around it, you liberals just hate the GOP.”
Nah, just ignorant fools.
“You guys like taxes, we don’t.”
No, we don’t like them either, but we consider them a necessary evil and a small price to pay to live free.
“You want the government to help you, we don’t.”
Most of us don’t need government to help us, but recognize that some people do need it, and we are our brother’s keeper.
“You guys are the takere we are the makers.”
LOL! Yeah. Right.
“You like Barney Frank types, we don’t.”
Homophobe, eh? Good for you.
“You guys like show we like substance.”
Again…LOFL! Ask Karl Rove his honest thoughts on this one.
“You want to reason with terrorists we want to kill them.”
No, we want people to stop blowing things up. You want to keep them p’d off and figure you can find them and kill them. Where’s OBL anyway?
“You want someone to tell you how to run your life, we don’t.”
Again…lol. Whose holding the bible?
“You want, You want, You want.”
Not really. We want everybody to have a better life.
“We want nothing except to be left alone”
Might want to try another country then.

Silky, don’t insert sexual orientation into a conversation where it doesn’t exist. Personally, I do not agree with Congressman Frank’s lifestyle choices, but no one raised this issue. You did, which speaks to your concern for it. Republicans dislike the Congressman because of his losing positions and poor conduction of the House Financial Services Committee.

“Barney Frank types?” tim…c’mon.

Defending tim….
Barney Frank was introduced into this discussion because of his idiodic and completely ignorant service on the Finance committee, and the damage that committee has done to our economy with it’s incredibly stupid ideas and proposals.
At NO point did Barney Frank’s sexual orientation come up.

“Congressman Frank, in my opinion, should be deported from the country.”
People who you don’t agree with should be deported? Actually, it is YOU who should be deported. You fail to appreciate one of the most important tenets of this country.
And wrt that one guy’s post…you all need to learn to read between the lines. Why would he say “Barney Frank types”, instead of “Barney Frank?” Hmmm…

Mike, you have a good point. Let’s give him a room at the JFK library.

As a President Obama supporter I’m glad Daschle withdrew, disappointed the nomination got this far. While I’ve long admired Daschle, his tax problem and post-Senate activities and compensation raise too many questions of loyalties, integrity and trust. Daschle ignored taxes on a huge amount of compensation from folks with a vested interest in HHS, hardly the leadership we want for reforming healthcare for disenfranchised and disadvantaged individuals.
I’m glad he and President Obama didn’t drag this out any further. Big disappointment, time to move on to someone else.

>>There’s no getting around it, you liberals just hate the GOP.
I don’t hate anybody. As for Republicans, I like and respect quite a number of them. None of those initiate political discourse with the phrase “you liberals…”
>>You guys like taxes, we don’t.
Nobody likes taxes. I’m actually in favor of cutting taxes and stepping up tax enforcement. Did you know that some very conservative schools of thought consider that a tax increase?
>>You want the government to help you, we don’t.
>>I want the government to use my tax dollars for projects that will result in a decent return on my investment in my government.
You guys are the takere we are the makers.
>>Either we’re the wealthy liberal elite or we’re the welfare class. You can’t have it both ways. I work and bring home a paycheck just like you do.
You like Barney Frank types, we don’t.
>>What are “Barney Frank types”?
There’s only one Barney Frank–whether that is a good thing or a bad thing is debatable.
>>You guys like show we like substance.
How are Ann Coulter’s book sales doing? The GOP idolizes Rush Limbaugh but won’t give Ron Paul the time of day?
>>You want to reason with terrorists we want to kill them.
The problem with killing them is that seems to just makes more of them.
>>You want someone to tell you how to run your life, we don’t.
Isn’t the GOP the party that wants to tell me who I can marry, see which books I check out at the library, and decide that I should stay pregnant if I get pregnant?
>>You want, You want, You want. We want nothing except to be left alone
I don’t my government good money to ignore me and do whatever it feels like doing.

The IRA will investigate the past 10 years of Daschle’s tax returns. An overt misrepresentation of income is grounds for prosecution. Bet the US could cut it’s deficit in half if the IRS concentrated it’s efforts on vetting the tax returns of all members of the house and senate.

Ooops I meant the IRS no the IRA in the previous statement. Also, it’s no suprise that congress is only too happy to increase the income tax on honest wage earners. Gosh, congress doesn’t bother to pay their taxes anyway.

I have a great idea for a “Stimulus Package”. We should all add an extra $1000 to our income tax refunds – just for the heck of it – because we can. If we are found out we can “apologize” and announce a run for congress. Maybe the government who sympathizes with crooks will provide us with some much needed money for a junket to Las Vegas with the auto executives who we recently bailed out.

Some you have been waiting and waiting you are like guard dogs, waiting and waiting for a mistake on the new President’s behalf. Oh! but what a Leader, The President kept his word and informed the American people of the error. Thank you Mr. President. Lead on. There are to many things to deal with and America need to be save.

What is it about liberals that make them so very willing to just give up their liberty to an ever expanding and powerful central government?! What Obama is offering isn’t a helping and guiding hand. No, rather he is offering a controling hand of a socialist oligarchy. Wake up people! You really want socialized medicine? The same government that has bankrupted Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and turned public education into an international joke now wants to assume control of you and your family’s health coverage and you readily say yes?! Are you nuts?!
Do yourselves a favor and just Google “Reagan on socialized medicine” watch and more importantly listen to the clip, and then rethink your Obama obsession! There is no valor in surrendering your own liberty! None!

Silky? Au contraire sonny buck! The Schip program alone is socialist! I read way more than you do. Way more! Tool? A touch nasty aren’t you? Nasty liberal! Reduntant I know, but it still boggles the mind. He wants socilism on a large scale and to deny that is to lie about it. Again, I’m hardly shocked that a liberal would lie. I mean just look at the cabinet picks. Liars. Just like you Silly, er, I mean Silky!

Angie,
Legally, a woman has the right to kill her baby; have you ever seen a child ripped from the womb of his/her mother. If you have any feelings you just might change your mind.
So many women regret their abortions and mentally cannot deal with it. President Bush did what he could do to change this and President Obama would consider it a punishment if his daughter became pregnant with his grandchild. We need CHANGE and so many prayers are being said for President Obama to have a change of heart,

I believe that if the IRS would simply red flag and audit all of the congressmen and women on capital hill they would be able to fund infrastructure projects for the next 10 years and pay down the national debt. The best place to start would be to audit the tax records of Timothy Geithner, the new treasury secretary and the head of the IRS. Nobody simply forgets to pay $43,000 in back taxes. Gosh, that is the equivalent of many families’ annual salaries. He didn’t forget – he attempted to defraud the IRS – yup folks – TAX FRAUD. Oops, did I forget to make mention that he is the new head of the IRS. Our country won’t heal and become strong again until opportunists, crooks, cheats and liars are banished from the highest offices and citizens with principles are again at the helm.