Tax Return Provision Draws Fire in Senate

[tuvor]

By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Whoever wrote a legislative provision to give more members of Congress access to income tax records should be tracked down and held to account, a Democratic senator said Monday.

Republicans countered that the provision, removed from the $388 billion spending bill after protests from members of both parties, was not meant to weaken privacy laws. "Honest mistakes were made, but there's no conspiracy here," said Rep. Ernest Istook (news, bio, voting record), R-Okla., chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the IRS.

Istook, whose name was linked to the language when it caused an uproar on the Senate floor during the weekend, denied on Monday that he was behind the provision, saying it was written by the Internal Revenue Service (news - web sites) at the request of Appropriations Committee staff.

The intent, he said, was to give House and Senate Appropriations chairmen and their aides access to IRS processing centers for oversight purposes and not to review individual returns.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=512&e=1&u=/ap/tax_return_disclosure

[Melodybe]

1. Not a word about druggin all Americans though

[smiley_glad_hands]

5. Yeah whats up with that mental health bill?

Haven't heard anything about it for a week or so.

[NYC Liberal]

2. If nobody said anything...

you really think the Repukes would care?

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

3. Istook denies it, and yesterday, EVERYONE who knew about it...

...referred to it as "The Istook provision."

So, apparently, they were ALL wrong, and he was right.

God bless America.

Oh, by the way...DeLay got off without a scratch too. Surprised?

:grr:

[CAcyclist]

4. How does this even become a defense?

Any change to a bill should have an author and be written into the minutes.

The staff should not be able to request stuff like this. The staff should not be running things - I know they often *are* running things, but they shouldn't be.

[w4rma]

6. Big media is killing off this story. The headline is non-descript. (nt)

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

7. Ernest Istook is a demagogic asshole