Justified Outrage or Double Standard?

Sitrep: 30 mins Yoga (bad workout), 1x Gym (weights-legs, abs & 40 min treadmill)

So the battery on my MP3 player gave out just as I was getting onto the treadmill last night. Which means I plugged into the TV hookup. At first it was Biggest Loser, but that's losing interest for me, so when I saw Anderson Cooper 360 was starting with Obama, and the caption says "Obama Says He Screwed Up" (or something along those lines), I switched over. I have to wonder at everyone's outrage over Daschle's tax issue. Seriously. Why is everyone so upset? Because he made the mistake in the first place? Because he didn't pay it back right away? Admittedly, I haven't read any details recently. Way back this summer/fall I remember coming across something on this, but it's a vague memory at best. The way I look at it, we have a double standard for politicians and rich people when it comes to taxes. We love to flay them alive for tax mistakes, not paying enough taxes, etc. Yet how many of us scramble each year on our own taxes to pay as little as possible? How many of us have made errors and don't know it yet because we're small fry where IRS audits are concerned? How many of us have deliberately misrepresented facts or left off income all-together? What about my little sister's step dad, who had a home business with his first wife (decades ago) and she didn't file their taxes like she told him she did? It took until a few years ago for the IRS to figure it out and start attaching his refunds (and stimulus checks; his new wife's too, since they filed jointly when they got married, having no knowledge he owed back taxes.) No body is flaying him alive, or denying him a job (and yep, he worked for years where he managed budgets and finances for an adult group home.) And I gotta say, how many people when contacted by the IRS run right out and write that check. Wouldn't logic say "Look into this? What's going on?" Seriously. Is the issue in Daschle's case fraud? Was it deliberate? Will it affect his job performance? What if he didn't have the liquid funds to just write a check for $100,000? (That's the figure I thought I heard?). Speaking for myself, I'm going to do everything I know to minimize how much tax I pay. And if my CPA makes a mistake then so be it. If I ended up owing, you better believe I wouldn't be writing a check willy-nilly. Not with the horror stories I've heard about the IRS. I'd be demanding a review or whatever. And delaying as long as possible before paying the money. (And yes, my CPA has made a mistake, only it was in my benefit. He caught it after the fact and we filed the papers necessary to correct.) Maybe I'm being too generous here, but really. Is it justified outrage, or double standard? *I'm not a big Daschle fan, so my thoughts aren't out of partisanship or anything like that.