House Bill 4818
DIVISION H - TRANSPORTATION, TREASURY, INDEPENDENT AGENCIES, AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005
Posted on 11/21/2004 5:21:35 PM PST by ConservativeMan55
FLASH: Rep. Istook, R-Okla. was responsible for the insertion of the provision... Developing...
-- 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.
"Maybe I'm just jaded by politics, but I honestly thought s1omething like this was already possible."
Kind of like the "Patriot" Act, with little insertions providing that it can be used for lots of things other than terrorism investigations.
What happens now if a oversight committee member wants to visit a IRS office?
Hell, the UPS driver can get in!
Does everything stop! Grind to a halt while they cover up or hide every tax return in every in basket, or do you allow certain member access to their oversight charge with clearances.
I might be off base, but I think this is what they were trying to address, and the language was used to make a Big F'n deal of it.
I figure some explanations will be offered to explain when cooler heads prevail.
her=here......oops
My last post was meant as a reply to the article in post #69, not to your post #77. My mistake!
Well, I suspect some big wheel said "Wouldn't it be nice if we could ...?" The energentic staff then went to work with the "Your wish is my command" mentality and proceeded to stick the "nice" language into the bill. Lesson: If you are a big wheel be careful what you wish because some sycophant will run off to do it. Most big wheels learn this lesson in their first management job. But then again, politicians by and large have never held management or any other jobs.
I am a bit miffed by the apparent reaction to this.
I have been watching Congress for years on C-span. I saw the debate over this and it was shameful the way the Dem's used this paragraph to demean the committee that had worked around the clock many days on it.
The real tragedy is that these omnibus bills are necessary.
The Dem's try to derail every one of the 13 or so bills individually, then blame the Repubs for not getting them done and putting them in a omnibus package, then try to find every little thing they can to derail it as well.
And now here we are, bashing them with crap caused by the democrats and helping them as we so often do by knee jerk reactionary %^&%$%&%$^% ^&*^*^&T% (*(&^%&^%$!!!!!!!!
There!! I feel better now!:-)
BTTT
As you can see, it is certainly worrisome and ill conceived.
Had they, clarified that upon written request the chairman, as a function of his responsibility be granted access to the facilities, not for the purpose of viewing private tax returns, but the documents necessary to proper oversight of the office. Or some other way of saying it, it probably still would have been flagged.
How can a committee responsible for oversight, not be allowed access to the offices it oversees.
The Intel committee has it, but the committee needing oversight of the IRS does not.
This is the problem, and frankly, I don't know how they can ever solve it now. Not after this.
These guys vote for this crap. They are the ones responsible.
He was just trying to help out Hillary.
I'm guessing that Istook did it to point out how ridiculous it is for Congress to vote on such a HUGE omnibus bill without anyone actually having the time to read the darned thing. Maybe he was trying to make a point that, frankly, needs to be made.
If he took his job seriously, he'd read ALL the crap Congress proposed to stick us with proir to voting or submitting.
Source document in post #85.
Thanks much. Istook said that this wouldn't have allowed any inspections of tax returns, but that #222 seems pretty specific about tax returns (barring any other laws prohibiting release of returns for this sort of thing as that paragraph states). I suppose we'd then have to review the entire tax code and other assorted laws to see if the existing laws actually did prohibit release in these circumstances. This sure seems to go beyond an oversight role. All that committee chair would have to do is make a written request to see a tax return. What direct law enforcement/counter-terror role does the House or Senate Appropriations Committee have? Seems to me they just provide the funding for other agencies who actually do the job. This (#222) isn't a good idea.
Istook, chairman of the House Appropriations transportation subcommittee, said in a statement Sunday that the Internal Revenue Service drafted the language, which would not have allowed any inspections of tax returns. "Nobody's privacy was ever jeopardized," the statement said.
Congressional staffers cannot pull up your tax returns. Law enforcement is another matter, if they get a warrant I suppose. But Congress?? No way.
"I have been watching Congress for years on C-span. I saw the debate over this and it was shameful the way the Dem's used this paragraph to demean the committee that had worked around the clock many days on it."
I don't care HOW HARD they worked on the bill. This is UNACCEPTABLE behavior.
Imagine what happens if the Democrats ever get control of the Senate. Hillary Clinton personally having access to my taxes?
If Istook doesn't get a better explanation, I think this spells "primary challenger" or "early retirement". Is J.C. Watts in that district?
On the subject of the wording, I don't have a clue as to what purpose they would have to even pretend to ask to see returns from anyone.
The structure of the paragraph must be misleading as to their intent.
I believe they wanted to clarify access to the facility and the related docs needed for oversight responsibility.
Unfortunately that is not what was stated and it should have been caught before printing.
It is embarrassing.
Always good to remember-Democrats or Republicans, the
government is NOT our friend.
a-men. Now's not the time to go soft on the govt. just because our guys are there. Evil is evil.
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