Admitting mistakes a good start

Every time a president tries to put together a Cabinet it happens.

Despite all the background checks, somebody will have a blemish related to cash, usually taxes that haven't been paid.

I start thinking, well, they all do it. That is the worst part of this recurring problem. A lack of faith in the system trickles down.

The situation was eating at me, so I talked it over with John Dienhart, director of the Northwest Ethics Network, and he told me, "Leadership sets the tone." When we keep seeing the very people who write tax bills avoid paying their fair share, it "sends a terrible message" to the rest of us.

Tuesday, Tom Daschle stepped away from the nomination to be secretary of health and human services over tax and influence questions. Earlier that day, Nancy Killefer, nominee for deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, backed out. She hadn't paid unemployment-compensation tax on household help.

Timothy Geithner was confirmed as treasury secretary despite his own tax problems.

All of them should have known better, especially Daschle, who spent 18 years in the Senate. He made $5 million in the four years he's been out of office, helping companies navigate Washington.

And he used a car and driver supplied by his friend, businessman (and Seattle University grad) Leo Hindery, without paying taxes on the value of the service.

Dienhart studies professional ethics and is a professor of management at Seattle University. "Daschle has been in Washington forever," Dienhart said. Things look different from the inside, you become friends with people. Friends do favors for friends.

Also, the money (Daschle owed $146,000) looks like a lot to an outsider, "but if you make $5 million, you may not pay that much attention to that amount of money." And it's so commonly done, few would feel a sense of shame about it.

How do we change that culture?

Elect people who pay their taxes, Dienhart said. He said ethics is prominent on this president's Web site. That signals an important change, as does the withdrawal of Daschle's name, though that should have been done earlier.

Signals are important. Dienhart said serious apologies and restitution would help. Daschle paid his back taxes, but only after he was up for nomination. How does that look?

Dienhart mentioned a series of experiments in which someone was conned out of a dollar. Researchers wanted to know how much it would take to make them feel whole again. Giving the dollar back wasn't enough. About $1.25 seemed to feel right.

People would believe an apology if the person paid back that 25 percent extra and said, "I'm happy to do it." Otherwise, who would trust anything they did while in office?

Dienhart studies businesses and said Costco was a good example of a culture of responsibility. At all levels, "there is high accountability for what you've done. Pointing fingers at others is not allowed."

I felt better when President Obama met with five network news teams at the Oval Office and said, "I screwed up." That's a real start toward a cleaner culture.

Jerry Large's column appears Monday and Thursday. Reach him at 206-464-3346 or jlarge@seattletimes.com.