1,000 Page Spending Bill Has Snooping Clause

[Groty]

This is just damn'd great.

The spending bill, about a thousand pages long, had a little provision that would :


... allow the chairmen of the House and Senate appropriations committees, or their agents, to examine the tax returns of any American.

The two lawmakers who would have gained that power -- Sen. Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican, and Rep. Bill Young, a Florida Republican -- both said they wouldn't use it, and the Senate approved a resolution deleting the language.They don't know who put it in there. Could be a lame duck. Or maybe it's an overzealous staffer that snuck it past a senile Senator.

Regardless, someone should be nailed for this. It will probably be swept under the carpet.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/11/21/tax.provision/index.html

[booyalab]

This is just damn'd great.

The spending bill, about a thousand pages long, had a little provision that would :

They don't know who put it in there. Could be a lame duck. Or maybe it's an overzealous staffer that snuck it past a senile Senator.

Regardless, someone should be nailed for this. It will probably be swept under the carpet.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/11/21/tax.provision/index.html

There are only 2 reasons I can see for caring about random tax form checks. 1. You cheat on your taxes 2. You think that the individual doing the tax form checks somehow has power over the entire IRS and will extract undue amounts of money from you. If you're going to be paranoid about the second part, why aren't you paranoid about any given IRS accountant who goes over it? SOMEONE has to.

The only thing that is cause for concern is that the IRS is obviously not seen as doing a competent job at catching people who ARE cheating. They're not going to create accountability for the IRS to do anything that isn't in the best interest of the federal budget and anything but more fair to people who are honest with their taxes.

[SheepDog]

The IRS has a mandate to deal with tax returns. The legislative branch appropriations commitee members do not. You didn't include my reason for not liking this. That is of an all-invasive Big Brother type governement with no checks and balances, prying into my personal financial matters without my consent or knowledge. This kind of thing, along with sneak-and-peek searches, and secret warrants are violations against our constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure.