Tom Daschle has withdrawn his nomination for health and human services secretary, after fielding mounting criticism over his failure to pay more than $130,000 in taxes.

President Obama stood by Daschle Monday, telling reporters that he “absolutely” supports the former South Dakota senator. But the president accepted Daschle’s withdrawal with “sadness and regret” Tuesday morning, according to a White House statement.

“Tom made a mistake, which he has openly acknowledged. He has not excused it, nor do I,” Obama said. “But that mistake, and this decision, cannot diminish the many contributions Tom has made to this country, from his years in the military to his decades of public service.”

Obama said he had hoped Daschle could bring his expertise on health care to his drive to make health care more accessible and affordable.

But Daschle said in a statement that his presence would have complicated that effort.

“If 30 years of exposure to the challenges inherent in our system has taught me anything, it has taught me that this work will require a leader who can operate with the full faith of Congress and the American people, and without distraction,” Daschle said. “Right now, I am not that leader, and will not be a distraction.”

“I will not be the architect of America’s health system reform, but I remain one of its more fervent supporters,” he said.

It was unclear whether Daschle, with his deep network of ties in the Senate stemming in part from his time as majority leader, would have been able to weather the criticism over his tax problems in confirmation.

Senators were reluctant to state publicly any opposition to Daschle’s nomination in recent days. But that started to crack Tuesday morning, as Republican Sen. Jim DeMint called for Obama to withdraw the nomination — becoming the first senator to say that the former majority leader’s tax problems are disqualifying.

DeMint told FOX News that Daschle’s failure to pay $134,000 in federal taxes reflects a “problem with integrity” that the government cannot afford to tolerate. DeMint spoke out against Daschle as a number of prominent newspapers, including The New York Times, called for the South Dakota Democrat to drop his bid.

DeMint said he came to that conclusion after it became “obvious” that Daschle knew about the tax problems long before his nomination and did nothing to make it right.

“The average American would likely face criminal charges with tax evasion of this size, yet he did not address the issue until he was nominated,” he said.

Daschle has since paid $146,000 in back payments and interest, and apologized on Monday for what he called income tax errors.

The New York Times, in its editorial, complained that Timothy Geithner was already confirmed as treasury secretary despite his tax problems.

“It would send a terrible message to the public if we ignore the failure of yet another high-level nominee to comply with the tax laws,” the Times wrote.

Several other newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Boston Globe, and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also have called for Daschle to withdraw.

But Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer earlier said Daschle’s own admission that he had failed to pay the taxes was reason enough to forgive his sin.

“Clearly it was a bad mistake, and Daschle was the first to come up with this in June 2008,” Schumer said. “It wasn’t discovered by the administration’s vetting team but rather by Daschle himself much earlier and he brought it to the attention of the administration’s vetting team when he was chosen as a potential nominee for HHS.”

Obama’s pick to be the White House’s first performance officer, Nancy Killefer, also withdrew her nomination on Tuesday because of her own tax liabilities, namely a $946 tax lien imposed by the D.C. government for failure to pay $298 in unemployment compensation tax on household help.

Noting the importance of the post, Killefer wrote in her withdrawal letter to the president that “my personal tax issue of D.C. unemployment tax could be used to create exactly the kind of distraction and delay those duties must avoid.”

Everyone knows that at the end of a US President’s term, he (or she to be PC) usually rips out a whole string of pardon’s and sentence commutations.

All well and good, no problem with me.  Until FoxNews decided to push Pres. Bush to pardon a certain Clarence Aaron. (Read the Fox Story here)

Three life sentences, without parole.

That’s how long Calvin Smith — part of the notorious Murder Inc. drug gang which terrorized Washington, D.C., in the 1990s — will be in jail for the cold-blooded murder of three people and for dealing drugs.

It’s how long Erick John Llorance will be in jail for three holiday-season armed robberies and a shooting in Houston in 2007.

It’s how long high school shooter Michael Carneal will be in jail for murdering three girls and injuring five other students while they were standing with their youth prayer group outside Heath High School in Kentucky in 1997.

Three life sentences, without parole, is also how long Clarence Aaron will be in jail — because he introduced two drug dealers, so that one could buy cocaine from the other.

Here’s my issue…

Drugs – a scourge of our country. One of the biggest issues IN our country.

Fox News – a SUPPOSED independant voice – “We report, You Decide”

Fox News calling for Pres. Bush to pardon someone who was convicted by a jury of his peers for involvment in a drug deal.

Sad background story? Yes.

Should the American people care about that story? No.

What about the families of those affected by the original drug deal that Aaron initiated? Is there something that Pres. Bush should do for them?

Plain and simple – Clarence Aaron did the crime. Let him do his time. PERIOD

Fox News has lost me as a supporter for this article…  This is Fox News advocating putting a criminal back out on the street. We don’t have enough out there already?  I don’t CARE that it was his first conviction – he’s lucky he wasn’t in China… he’d be dead already!

Administration aides say President Bush is unhappy that his discussion Monday with President-elect Barack Obama was leaked and cast as a horse trade between signing a second economic stimulus bill in exchange for congressional passage of the Colombia Free Trade deal.

President Bush is unhappy the conversation held Monday between him and President-elect Barack Obama has been cast as a trade-off between Bush signing a second stimulus package in exchange for congressional passage of the Colombia Free Trade Deal,” administration officials told FOX News on Tuesday.

Obama asked Bush to help the sagging auto industry during their private meeting in the White House, senior aides to both men said. Bush stressed the need to work with Colombia, but to make it sound like a horse trade is unfair and inaccurate, an aide told FOX News.

The Bush administration, along with Congress, negotiated a $700 billion rescue package last month for the financial industry, but federal officials are resisting Democratic calls for a similar bailout for automakers, despite warnings that General Motors might not survive the year.

Democrats want a second stimulus that would include aid to Detroit’s big three automakers, unemployment benefits and infrastructure projects.

Bush’s desire to pass the Colombia Free Trade deal on its merits is no secret, a senior White House aide told FOX News. But that deal has been frozen by the Democratic majority in Congress.

The U.S. and Colombia are close allies, and the president wants to increase trade between the two countries. But Democrats say a deal would mean more jobs being exported, which is taboo for a party supported by a heavily unionized workforce that elected Obama.

Democrats say they also object to the human rights climate in Colombia, which union leaders have described as seriously threatening to workers. Colombia’s government says such claims are blown out of proportion and workers are protected.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that Democrats have suggested that neither Obama nor congressional leaders are willing to concede the Colombia pact to Bush and they may choose to wait to hold off on a new stimulus bill until Obama becomes president on Jan. 20.

Bush aides said the president is unhappy the conversation between him and Obama was leaked to the media at all, and insisted the two leaders were not engaged in a quid pro quo between the automakers and a free trade pact.

“President Bush did not suggest a quid pro quo. Both leaders discussed ideas for the economy. The president has long said free trade helps create jobs and opens markets to our businesses. We believe the free trade agreements can and should pass today on their merits,” said press secretary Dana Perino.

Senior aides to both men said the two issues were part of a long discussion about automakers and the ability of the trade deal to help not only the economy but also a key ally. A senior administration official suggested that Obama be careful to keep his counsel.

Deutsche Bank on Monday downgraded GM to sell from hold, with a price target of $0, saying the carmaker may not be able to fund its U.S. operations beyond December without government intervention, FOX Business Network reported.

Deutsche Bank said it believes the U.S. government will be compelled to intervene through a capital infusion or loan.

“Without government assistance, we believe that GM’s collapse would be inevitable, and that it would precipitate systemic risk that would be difficult to overcome for automakers, suppliers, retailers, and sectors of the U.S. economy,” the broker said. Even if GM avoids bankruptcy, equity shareholders are unlikely to get anything back, it added.

FOX News’ Bret Baier contributed to this report.

More at http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/11/11/obama-urges-bush-help-auto-indusstry/

Sarah Palin’s spokeswoman denies the wave of anonymous post-election criticism coming from some members of John McCain’s campaign team.

Sarah Palin’s allies are pushing back against a stream of accusations leaking out of John McCain’s campaign that the Alaska governor was incompetent during the run-up to the election. One Palin aide called the charges “sickening.”

Palin spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton on Friday denied reports that have surfaced since Election Day that there was tension between the vice presidential candidate and McCain’s staff.

They range from claims that Palin went on extensive spending sprees to accounts that campaign officials had serious doubts about her preparedness to to be vice president.

Sources told FOX News, for instance, that Palin did not realize that Africa was a continent and not a country, and that she could not name the nations that had signed the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Palin herself brushed off the finger-pointing Wednesday, saying she wouldn’t engage “any of the negativity” or “pettiness” from anonymous sources.

Stapleton released a written statement Friday calling the charges “unfortunate and, quite honestly, sickening.”

“The accusations we are hearing and reading are not true and since we deny all these anonymous allegations, there is nothing specific to which we will respond,” she wrote. “We have the highest regards for Senator John McCain. Governor Palin was honored to be chosen as McCain’s running mate.”

Newsweek also reported that Palin may have spent “tens of thousands” of dollars more on wardrobe expenses than the $150,000 that was reported in the days before Election Day. The money allegedly went toward clothes for her and her family from high-end stores, even though she was originally told to buy just three suits and hire a stylist for the Republican National Convention.

One aide called the spree “Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast,” according to the magazine. Palin also reportedly asked to speak at McCain’s concession speech Tuesday, and was denied.

McCain adviser Nicole Wallace defended Palin on NBC’s “Today Show” Friday morning, saying the Alaska governor “did nothing wrong.”

“She is, perhaps, the most un-diva politician I’ve ever seen,” she said. “The only thing I’ve ever seen her ask for is a diet soda.”

Palin said right after the election that she’s sorry if she cost McCain even “one vote.”

But some are tired of what they say looks like scapegoating.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum told FOX News that McCain himself needs to come out and put a stop to the Palin criticism.

“She’s the one that energized the base, she’s the one that got the crowds out. … She’s the one that comes out of this without any scars and now they’re trying to give her some,” Santorum said. “John McCain should come out and say, ‘This is ridiculous,’ and set the record straight.”

DEVELOPING STORY — Intimidation tactics, missing ballots and faulty machinery are plaguing some voters across the country as they go to polling stations to elect either John McCain or Barack Obama to be the next president of the United States.

In Philadelphia, FOX News’ Rick Leventhal received a report from Republican poll watcher Chris Hill that two Black Panthers had stationed themselves at the door to a polling station and were intimidating voters. One held a nightstick, Hill said.

Hill told FOX News that he went to talk to the men, and they told him white power didn’t rule there.

The man reportedly carrying a nightstick was escorted away from the polling station by police. Outside, FOX News found another Black Panther who said he was a certified observer. Police asked him and the FOX News crew to leave the polling station.

As of noon, FOXNews.com had received complaints from voters around the country that polling stations were not prepared, that voting lists were inaccurate and some voters were worried when they were asked to cast paper ballots instead of using voting machines.

Gregory Holden reported that the voting list at his polling station in Lugoff, S.C., had problems. “Many people who have always voted in this precinct are all of a sudden not on the roll,” he said. “They only have five machines and there are about 300 people in line. People are so discouraged some are leaving,” he wrote.

Francesca Lourdes, in Maryland, said that she voted with three others, and the polling station where their official voter registration cards told them to vote didn’t have them on the registers. She said they had to cast provisional ballots.

Watchdog groups and government officials are telling FOXNews.com that voters are reporting a range of problems and that some polling places aren’t able to handle the expected record turnout.

According to Wendy Weisner, of the Brennan Center for Justice and non-partisan watchdog group Election Protection Center, the group has been receiving calls from voters experiencing problems with machine breakdowns around the country.

In Virginia, there are reports from more than 40 polling stations that election officials don’t have paper ballots to distribute when electronic machines break down.

In Pittsburgh and Philadelphia there are reports from voters of machines breaking down and no emergency paper ballots being distributed.

Voters in Palm Beach County, Fla., are reporting that optical scan machines are breaking down.

An increasing number of problems are being reported with voting machines in Dayton, Ohio.

Election Protection had fielded more than 12,000 calls nationwide by 9 a.m., the group reported.

In New York City, voters began lining up as early as 4 a.m. ET, even though polls didn’t open until 6 a.m., said Valerie Vazquez-Rivera, a spokeswoman for the city’s Board of Elections.

“We have a system that is traditionally set up for low turnout,” said Tova Wang of the government watchdog group Common Cause. “We’re going to have all these new voters, but not a lot of new resources. The election directors just have very little to work with.”

Polls along the East Coast opened at 6 a.m. and by 8 a.m. one polling station in Atlanta had already run out of paper ballots, according to Clare Schexnyder, media spokeswoman for Georgia Election Protection, a non-partisan watchdog group.

“We had one location [in Atlanta] where all of the machines went down this morning and they didn’t come back up until 8:08 a.m. They had problems with cards kicking out and a voter not getting a chance to vote,” Schexnyder said.

About 2 million of Georgia’s 5 million voters had cast ballots in early voting, she said, but that still leaves 3 million potential voters hitting the polls on Election Day.

An election protection volunteer helped that voter cast her ballot, she said, but there were up to 100 voters in line at one point, waiting while the six machines were down. “They were voting with paper ballots during the time they were down and they ran out of paper ballots and had to switch to provisional ballots. They are provisional ballots that will be counted, but there was craziness at that one polling place.”

Virginia has also had its share of election mishaps, although the state is not yet reporting any incidences of fraud or voter intimidation.

Voters are turning out to the polls in record numbers in spite of the weather, according to Susan Pollard, a spokeswoman for the State Board of Elections. “Although a light rain is falling across the state, it does not seem to have dampened turn-out. Lines have been reported at some polling places; however, voting is proceeding quickly at many others.”

The rain is causing an unexpected problem — wet ballots don’t feed properly into optical scan machines.

“Poll workers are setting the wet ballots aside and drying them out and asking voters to dry off before they handle the ballots.To make sure you don’t have any problem with your ballot going through the optical scanner, be sure to dry your hands before completing your ballot,” Pollard said. “All votes will be counted.”

Three of the state’s 2,349 polling stations opened late, two due to human error. One, at a library in Richmond, opened 25 minutes late because the librarian with the keys to the building overslept.

While the North Virginia suburb of Arlington has had one wet ballot issue, so far county registrar Linda Lindberg describes voting as “smooth sailing.” She said 8,000 absentee ballots were sent to troops in Afghanistan and will be counted as a separate group “hopefully before midnight.”

To assure that every voter gets a chance to cast a ballot, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division has sent more than 800 monitors to 59 jurisdictions in 23 states.

Several have had problems in the past with minority voters or with providing personnel at polling stations where Spanish or Native American languages are spoken.

In Cuyahoga County, Ohio, where the Feds have sent election monitors, voters reported 58 problems voting to OurVoteLive.org.

In Ohio’s Franklin County, Board of Elections spokesman Ben Piscitelli said officials again were dealing with typical glitches. “We’re taking care of things like that,” Piscitelli said. “But there’s nothing major or systemic.”

Schexnyder, from Georgia Election Protection, said she doesn’t expect the problems voters are reporting to keep them from casting their ballots, although many will wait.

“We’ll probably see problems all day as we see long lines, and any times you have computers connected to the equation, I think that every computer glitch we have is going to create longer lines,” Schexnyder said.

FOXNews.com’s Jennifer Lawinski and the Associated Press contributed to this report.