GoolsbeeGate: The GOP's Latest Obama "Scandal"

[Judi Lynn]

GoolsbeeGate: The GOP's Latest Obama "Scandal"

Republicans are trying to manufacture a scandal over an Obama aide's slip-up. Why's the White House letting them?

— By David Corn

Fri Oct. 8, 2010 3:00 AM PDT

If the Republicans gain control of the House of Representatives in the coming congressional elections, Americans can expect to see subpoenas flying like pigeons around Washington next year. Rep. Darrell Issa, the California Republican likely to take over the House oversight committee, has pledged that if the GOPers win the House, he will double the size of his staff in order to mount multiple investigations of the Obama White House. But will these be real probes or trumped-up witch hunts? A taste of what's to come can be found in the Republicans' current effort to whip up an Obama scandal: GoolsbeeGate.

The issue: Did White House economic aide Austan Goolsbee nefariously gain access to the confidential tax records of Koch Industries, a megafirm privately owned by the billionaire Koch brothers, who have funded much anti-Obama political activity? The short answer: Probably not. But that hasn't stopped the scandalmakers, while the White House response has provided them running room.

This controversy began with an August 27 press briefing, which featured an administration official speaking on background (meaning he could be quoted by position, not by name) to discuss a recent report on the US corporate tax system. That report noted businesses were increasingly eschewing corporate structures in favor of partnerships and other so-called "pass-through" entities to duck corporate income taxes. This official told reporters:

So in this country, we have partnerships, S corps, we have LLCs—we have a series of entities that do not pay corporate income tax. Some of which are really giant firms. You know, Koch Industries, I think, is one, is a multibillion dollar business, and so that creates a narrower base because we got literally something like 50 percent of the business income in the US is going to businesses that don’t pay any corporate income tax.

More:
http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/10/goolsbee-koch-industries-irs-scandal

[zbdent]

1. If the House and Senate go to the GOP ...

how long before they investigate whether or not Obama's a "natural-born citizen" in a run-up for impeachment?