Frist: Tax-returns measure indefensible

[GermanStar]

Senate leaders vow author will be held accountable

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Sunday that "accountability will be carried out" against whoever slipped a provision into an omnibus spending bill that would have allowed two committee chairmen to view the tax returns of any American.

"I have no earthly idea how it got in there," Frist said on CBS's "Face The Nation." "Nobody is going to defend this."

The language was caught and removed in the Senate on Saturday, but the House will have to approve the fix before the spending bill can be sent to the White House for President Bush's signature.

However, the delay will not cause a government shutdown. Congress already had passed a stopgap resolution to fund government agencies through December 3 in order to give the White House time to consider the omnibus bill.

A military plane flew that resolution to Chile, where Bush was attending the APEC summit, so the president could sign it to avoid any disruption of government.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said in a written statement that "The Republicans' lack of transparency and willingness to abuse their power is undermining democracy. It should be of grave concern to all Americans that their privacy could be invaded by such an outrageous provision."

Sen. John McCain said Sunday that the episode points up the problems created when Congress passes gigantic spending bills at the end of a session, before anyone has time to read them.

"If there is ever a graphic example of the broken system that we now have, that certainly has to be it," the Arizona Republican said on NBC's "Meet The Press." "How many other provisions didn't we find in that 1,000-page bill?"


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[Old300D]

I was watching that whole show as it happened on CSPAN. I was aghast at the underhanded methods of the House to get this stinkbomb past the Senate. The Senate needs to find out who worked this into the bill. I agree with McCain and Byrd (Bird?) that this method of passing bills is dangerous. They said only two provisions of the omnibus appropriations bill had been previously passed by the Senate, and there was no time to review the whole mess. Then this obvious grab for non-accountability giving the chairman of the appropriations committee (or designee) the power to review anyone's income taxes with zero oversight or penalty for abuse. Sure, it was a "mistake" -- my a$$.

It's just creepy. And scary.

[shane]

I wonder why the republcans want to take so much power away from the people? Do they really think their way is the only way to think? Have they no respect for other people's point of view when it doesn't hurt them, or do they (repubs) simply live in fear of all they cannot comprehend?

This makes you (ok, me) wonder what other ludicrous stuff has been hidden away in the middle of 3000-page spending bills.

This plus the relaxation of ethics rules in the House does not bode well at all for how Republicans plan to use their power.

[GermanStar]

Originally Posted by Old300D

I was watching that whole show as it happened on CSPAN. I was aghast at the underhanded methods of the House to get this stinkbomb past the Senate. The Senate needs to find out who worked this into the bill. I agree with McCain and Byrd (Bird?) that this method of passing bills is dangerous. They said only two provisions of the omnibus appropriations bill had been previously passed by the Senate, and there was no time to review the whole mess. Then this obvious grab for non-accountability giving the chairman of the appropriations committee (or designee) the power to review anyone's income taxes with zero oversight or penalty for abuse. Sure, it was a "mistake" -- my a$$.

It's just creepy. And scary.

It really is a fright, isn't it? I wonder if GW is going to use this as fodder to push for line-item veto again. I swear, the closer I follow all of this crap, the more I feel the need for a shower.....

[mikemover]

Yet another reason to abolish the IRS and switch to a national retail sales tax system.

And it illustrates exactly why there should be a "one issue per bill" rule in Congress.

Mike

[boneheaddoctor]

Originally Posted by mikemover

Yet another reason to abolish the IRS and switch to a national retail sales tax system.

And it illustrates exactly why there should be a "one issue per bill" rule in Congress.

Mike

I'm no libertarian but I agree with both those ideas.

[GermanStar]

Originally Posted by mikemover

And it illustrates exactly why there should be a "one issue per bill" rule in Congress.

Mike

They'd get nothing done! And we'd all be better off!

[KirkVining]

The bad guy turned out to be Ishtook of Oklahoma, a well-known religious fascist. Since the other senators involved are all rabid pro-lifers, my guess is the purpose of this is to go after the tax returns of abortion providers and pro-choice advocates. This should be an impeachable offense.