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Discuss national and state politics with Union-Tribune reporter John Marelius
 
10:03
John Marelius -  We have some breaking news this morning: Tom Daschle just withdrew his nomination to be secretary of health and human services. The Obama stimulus package passed the House on  a party-line vote. Senate Republicans want   changes which Obama says are only "very modest" differences. So lots to talk about. Let's get started.
10:04
SignOnLiveChatModerator -  John, could you briefly explain the controversy surrounding Daschle's nomination?
10:06
John Marelius -  Daschle owed $140,000 in back taxes and interest. While that caused him some uncomfortable moments in his confirmation hearings, the controversy didn't seem serious enough to derail his confirmation. His withdrawal was announced about 20 minutes ago, so I haven't yet seen any explanation as to why he pulled the plug.
10:08
SignOnLiveChatModerator -  John, how much of an impact will this have on President Obama?
10:09
John Marelius -  I think this is a pretty big blow. Daschle was to have a much larger portfolio than just a Cabinet secretary. He was to oversee the development of Obama's health care plan and shepherd it through Congress. I doubt Obama has a ready second choice waiting in the wings.
10:11
SignOnLiveChatModerator -  John, I would think  Cabinet nominees would be vetted before having their names submitted to Congress. It seems this issue should not have been a surprise. Have you heard how this slipped by the Obama team?
10:13
John Marelius -  Not really. They moved very quickly in getting a Cabinet in place -- much faster than any other transition team. They got a lot of praise for it at the time. This may be part of the downside of moving so fast, that the vetting process wasn't as thorough as it might otherwise have been.
10:14
SignOnLiveChatModerator -  Why did they hurry with the nominations? Obama's transition team has had the same amount of time to pick a Cabinet as every administration since Truman.
10:16
John Marelius -  One slight correction: George W. Bush lost more than a month of his transition because of the Florida fiasco. As for Obama, they simply wanted to hit the ground running. I think it was essential to get the economic team and the foreign policy team in place well in advance of the inauguration, but if the premise of your question is that there wasn't such an urgency with some of these other appointments, you're probably right.
10:19
SignOnLiveChatModerator -  The following video from Dec. 11 when Obama announced the nomination of Daschle:
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