WP: (stealth) Tax-Return Provision in Spending Bill Dropped

[DeepModem Mom]

Tax-Return Provision in Spending Bill Dropped

By Dan Morgan and Helen Dewar
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, December 7, 2004; Page A04


The House voted unanimously last night to scuttle a controversial provision empowering Congress's appropriations committees to examine Americans' tax returns, clearing the way for a $388 billion government-wide spending bill to be sent to President Bush as early as today.

Voting 381 to 0, the House killed the provision in response to a demand by the Senate that the language be dropped before the big spending bill -- which was approved by both houses late last month -- could be sent to the White House for Bush's signature.

Democrats and some Republicans contended that the provision, added to the bill by a mid-level House Appropriations Committee staff member with drafting help from the Internal Revenue Service, could lead to abuse of taxpayer privacy. GOP leaders said it was intended only to ensure effective oversight of IRS spending.

Before the vote, Republicans and Democrats traded politically barbed charges over who was responsible for the chaotic process of jamming most spending bills for the year into one big package -- a process that led to inclusion of the tax provision without the knowledge of key lawmakers....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41271-2004Dec6.html