Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
"We were black and they were white."
Link to tweet
Chuck Grassley said he got ACORN's tax returns for "legislative purposes," but Dems want Trump's for "political purposes."
"It’s black and white."
Former ACORN exec Bertha Lewis agrees: “We were black and they were white."
"It’s black and white."
Former ACORN exec Bertha Lewis agrees: “We were black and they were white."
_ _ _ _ _
Yes, Congress Has Pried Open Tax Returns For Political Purposes Before
Republicans once sought community group ACORN’s tax information using the same law Democrats now cite to see Donald Trump’s tax returns.
Republicans say Democrats gunning for President Donald Trump’s tax returns using a federal disclosure law could set a terrible new standard.
If Democrats get their way, “nothing could stop a committee chairman from obtaining the tax returns of any politically disfavored individual,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin wrote in a letter to House Ways and Means Committee chair Richard Neal (D-Mass.) last week.
It’s true that the Democratic request for a sitting president’s taxes is highly unusual. Presidents normally disclose their tax information voluntarily, so there hasn’t been a need.
But it certainly is not the first time lawmakers have used the tax disclosure law against their political enemies.
In 2014, House Republicans obtained and disclosed private tax information as part of a campaign against an Internal Revenue Service official they claimed had unfairly singled out conservative groups for audits.
And in 2006, Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee asked the IRS for all kinds of tax information about the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, a group that registered voters and advocated for poor people.
. . . Republicans had a brazenly partisan reason to attack ACORN: The group registered poor people to vote in cities, so it registered a lot of Democrats. . . .
“It’s a lot different because we were using it for legislative purposes,” Grassley told HuffPost. The Trump tax return request, on the other hand, “is being used for political purposes. It’s black and white. And oversight is legitimate for legislative purposes to see that the laws are faithfully executed.”
Former ACORN chief executive Bertha Lewis said Grassley has a point about it being black and white. “We were black and they were white,” Lewis said.
If Democrats get their way, “nothing could stop a committee chairman from obtaining the tax returns of any politically disfavored individual,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin wrote in a letter to House Ways and Means Committee chair Richard Neal (D-Mass.) last week.
It’s true that the Democratic request for a sitting president’s taxes is highly unusual. Presidents normally disclose their tax information voluntarily, so there hasn’t been a need.
But it certainly is not the first time lawmakers have used the tax disclosure law against their political enemies.
In 2014, House Republicans obtained and disclosed private tax information as part of a campaign against an Internal Revenue Service official they claimed had unfairly singled out conservative groups for audits.
And in 2006, Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee asked the IRS for all kinds of tax information about the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, a group that registered voters and advocated for poor people.
. . . Republicans had a brazenly partisan reason to attack ACORN: The group registered poor people to vote in cities, so it registered a lot of Democrats. . . .
“It’s a lot different because we were using it for legislative purposes,” Grassley told HuffPost. The Trump tax return request, on the other hand, “is being used for political purposes. It’s black and white. And oversight is legitimate for legislative purposes to see that the laws are faithfully executed.”
Former ACORN chief executive Bertha Lewis said Grassley has a point about it being black and white. “We were black and they were white,” Lewis said.
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
