The Reliable Source

Just Who's Getting Taken For A Ride?

Another savvy pol taken down by a car and driver. Tom Daschle -- the insider's insider -- fails to pay taxes on the limo and chauffeur provided to him. Will they never learn? That "free" ride always ends up costing a bundle. A crash history for all you would-be nominees:

1986

Former White House official Mike Deaver is photographed lobbying while sitting in a limo, and the image becomes Time magazine's cover. Ronald Reagan's pal is slammed for influence peddling and convicted on three counts of perjury for false testimony to Congress and a grand jury.

1991

White House Chief of Staff John Sununu resigns after taking a government limo from Washington to a rare-stamp auction in New York, sending the car and driver back alone and flying back to D.C. on a corporate jet.

1993

FBI Director William Sessions gets fired after the Justice Department accuses him of ethics violations. Topping the list? Letting his wife use official cars for trips to the hairdresser and dressmaker and to go shopping.

2005

American University President Benjamin Ladner is forced to resign for misappropriation of university funds including, but not limited to, using a car and driver to take his wife to the beauty salon and his kids bar-hopping in Georgetown. Former driver dimed him out.

2007Smithsonian Secretary Larry Small loses job for excessive spending -- such as $2,800 on a car service for four days in Los Angeles, claiming it would have been a "safety risk" for him to "carry as much cash as would have been needed to pay a taxi."

2008