Good Help Is Hard to Find

I don't really have very much to say about the withdrawals of Tom Daschle and Nancy Killefer today except to let out a long sigh. Obama to responsibility, which I suppose is good, but how did he (and we) get here in the first place? It's not just the question of why three (so far) of his nominees have had tax issues (and that couldn't have anything to so with the IRS's long-time policy of targeting regular people more than the wealthy, could it?). That's troubling, but it's not particularly news that the overclass has entitlement issues. Tom Daschle had a car and driver when he was Senate majority leader, so why shouldn't he have one when he's back in private life? Doesn't everybody? What I want to know is why Obama's vetting process has broken down? (Or has it? Maybe they knew all about these problems and didn't recognize them as problems.) Nancy Killefer had a tax lien on her house! How do you miss that, when you're doing a background check for a potential administration position?

David Corn wonders if this situation will affect Obama's choice of administration personnel. I'd hope so, but I'm not holding my breath.