MAKE THAT CASCHLE:

Daschle Has Received $195,000 for Speeches to Health Care Groups (Drew Armstrong, 2/02/09, CQ)

For Tom Daschle, life out of the Senate has been lucrative. In addition to his work as an adviser to a Washington law firm and as chairman of the board for a private equity firm, Daschle has been paid $195,000 to give speeches to health care industry groups — the very sector President Obama has designated him to overhaul.

While it is common for former lawmakers to engage in paid speaking and lobbying, the fees Daschle received and his work as a special policy adviser to health care clients with the lobbying and law firm Alston & Bird raise fresh questions about his nomination to be Health and Human Services secretary, a selection already thrown off track by revelations that he amended his tax returns on Jan. 2 to pay the IRS roughly $140,000 in back taxes and interest.

Daschle’s speaking fees to health care groups over the past two years — $195,000 — exceed what he made in any one year as a senator.