Senator Pot, Meet Secretary-Designate Kettle

From ABC Correspondent Jake Tapper's weblog, Political Punch...

The Salt Lake Tribune notes that just "hours after former Sen. Tom Daschle dropped his bid to become the next Health and Human Services Secretary, Utah Sen. Bob Bennett called it all but 'inevitable.'... He could not possibly have functioned effectively with this cloud over him," Bennett said, noting that the $140,000 in back taxes Daschle paid is "more than most Americans make in a year."

Notes the Tribune, "Good thing no president ever tried to nominate Bennett to a Cabinet post, because he has had his own problems with back taxes. In late 2005, Bennett and some business partners paid back about $320,000 in back property taxes that had accumulated over four years for their Anniversary Inns business, and that's in addition to $140,000 in tax liens for late sales and tourism room taxes.

"For the record, that's about three times 'more than most Americans make in a year.'"