ANOTHER TAX PROBLEM FOR OBAMA?  —  From NBC's Lisa Myers, Chuck Todd and Savannah Guthrie  —  NBC News has learned that the president's choice for “chief performance officer” — technically a deputy OMB director post — could end up having to withdraw over a number of issues, including tax problems.

Official: Performance czar withdraws candidacy … WASHINGTON (AP) - Nancy Killefer, who failed for a year and a half to pay employment taxes on household help, has withdrawn her candidacy to be the first chief performance officer for the federal government, the White House said Tuesday.

Obama's Pledge to Reform Ethics Faces an Early Test  —  WASHINGTON — During almost two years on the campaign trail, Barack Obama vowed to slay the demons of Washington, bar lobbyists from his administration and usher in what he would later call in his Inaugural Address a “new era of responsibility.”

Obama's Choice for Chief Performance Officer Withdraws Name  —  Nancy Killefer, the management consultant and former Treasury official who had been picked by President Obama to serve as the country's chief performance officer, has withdrawn from consideration for the post, White House officials confirmed this morning.

Back Taxes, Part Two  —  THE TAX PROBLEMS plaguing the nomination of former senator Thomas A. Daschle to be secretary of health and human services are troubling — as were the problems of Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner.  In both cases, the nominees had failed to pay the full amount of taxes they owed.

Joe the Economist.»  —  The ubiquitous Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, aka “Joe the Plumber” and “Joe the War Correspondent,” will soon add a new moniker to his profile — “Joe the Economist.”  Politico reports that House GOP congressional aides decided to invite Wurzelbacher to a meeting …