# Istook: All your tax returns are belong to the GOP **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 21, 2004, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942 "2004-11-21T11:59:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942/1 "2004-11-21T11:59:19Z")
Rep. Ernest Istook, Jr. (R-Evil) [inserted a clause into the omnibus spending bill that Congress just passed](http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/11/20/tax.returns.ap/) that would allow the chairpersons of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees - or anyone else they authorized - to look at any of our tax returns. Since the GOP controls both houses of Congress, the holders of those offices are both Republicans. While the GOP, when caught, vowed to pass a resolution on Wednesday nullifying Istook’s provision, the fact is that the provision will become the law of the land if Bush signs the budget legislation before Congress passes the corrective legislation and gets it to the President. [The text of the Istook provision](http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/11/20/tax.returns.ap/): > [@](#): > > “Hereinafter, _notwithstanding any other provision of law_ governing the disclosure of income tax returns or return information, upon written request of the Chairman of the House or Senate Committee on Appropriations, the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service _shall allow agents designated by such Chairman access to Internal Revenue Service facilities and any tax returns or return information contained therein_.” I’m not gonna tar the entire GOP with this. But this is IMHO so exceptional, so antithetical to what this country is about, that they should just plain drum Istook out of the GOP caucus for this. And if they don’t at least strongly censure him for this, if they treat this like just a casual mistake that they don’t need to make a big deal about, then at that point the GOP caucus becomes complicit. Because people with ideas like these frankly ought to leave this country and find themselves a nice banana republic to help run. Because that’s the sort of stuff that goes on in countries that have at most the pretense of democracy, rather than the real thing. Mr. Istook, regardless of what the law says, I no longer consider you an American. Get out of my country, you fascist. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942/2 "2004-11-21T12:11:11Z")
[Democrat Skullduggery to Undermine Republicans!!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=287793) **Elucidator** and [The repugs want to see your tax return](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=287790) **Reeder** already beat you to it. Get with the plan already. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942/3 "2004-11-21T12:28:46Z")
> [@Tapioca Dextrin](#): > > [Democrat Skullduggery to Undermine Republicans!!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=287793) > **Elucidator** and > [The repugs want to see your tax return](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=287790) > **Reeder** > > already beat you to it. Get with the plan already. OK, folks, go to those threads. Sorry. (I just plain missed Reeder’s thread, but I would’ve had to be psychic to guess what Elucidator’s thread was about, so I don’t feel bad about that one.) ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942/4 "2004-11-21T13:45:52Z")
Nevertheless, this was a good call, RT. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942/5 "2004-11-21T13:49:04Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > And if they don’t at least strongly censure him for this, if they treat this like just a casual mistake that they don’t need to make a big deal about, then at that point the GOP caucus becomes complicit. I don’t know how it can be a mistake. A mistake is forgetting to pick up milk at the grocery store. Someone had to take the time to draft the language and insert it into the bill. That takes forethought. Istook has some 'splaining to do. I shall be curious to see how this shakes out. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942/6 "2004-11-21T13:54:51Z")
Back up a minute. What the hell is this provision? [http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/11/20/spending.bill.ap/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/11/20/spending.bill.ap/index.html) > [@](#): > > A potential boon for Bush himself, $2 million for the government to try buying back the former presidential yacht Sequoia. The boat was sold three decades ago, and its current owners say the yacht is assessed at $9.8 million and are distressed by the provision. ??? That’s in addition to sunflower protection and catfish genome research. Why the hell are taxpapers funding the repurchase of Pres Bush’s old yacht??? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942/7 "2004-11-21T14:00:24Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I don’t know how it can be a mistake. A mistake is forgetting to pick up milk at the grocery store. Someone had to take the time to draft the language and insert it into the bill. That takes forethought. Amen to that. > [@](#): > > Istook has some 'splaining to do. I shall be curious to see how this shakes out. I’d say it isn’t Istook that has some explaining to do; there _is_ no forgivable explanation. My feeling on the matter is that he should be kicked out of Congress, stripped of his citizenship, and shown to the border. But if _his party_ fails to treat him as _persona non grata_, then _they_ will have some 'splaining to do, IMHO. Because like you say, this was not a mistake on his part; this was his intent. The question is to what extent the GOP is willing to tolerate persons in its midst who have this sort of intent. Commentators on the right are forever saying the Dems should repudiate this or that person on the left. I’d say the ball’s in their court right now; it’s their put-up-or-shut-up time. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942/8 "2004-11-21T14:07:09Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Back up a minute. What the hell is this provision? > > [http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/11/20/spending.bill.ap/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/11/20/spending.bill.ap/index.html) > > ??? > > That’s in addition to sunflower protection and catfish genome research. Why the hell are taxpapers funding the repurchase of Pres Bush’s old yacht??? It’s not President Bush’s old yacht. It’s the former Presidential yacht, as much as it can be anyway since we’ve never had an official Presidential yacht. [The misnamed USS Sequoia](http://www.sequoiayacht.com/importance.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Road\_Rash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Road\_Rash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Road_Rash)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942/9 "2004-11-21T16:12:11Z")
Just a little clarification before I join this pit gang, I was unaware that tax forms were confidential. I always assumed tax records were somewhat public record that could be presented to those interested, such as the media, upon request. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942/10 "2004-11-21T17:21:24Z")
> [@Road Rash](#): > > Just a little clarification before I join this pit gang, I was unaware that tax forms were confidential. I always assumed tax records were somewhat public record that could be presented to those interested, such as the media, upon request. I’ll let you wade through the [Federal Privacy Act](http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+5USC552a) if you like, but in summary, from this [site](http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs11-pub.htm#Confidential%20Records): > [@](#): > > Tax information, both federal and state, is not a public record. It is not disclosed unless: > > the taxpayer is part of a court proceeding where tax issues are relevant; > > a government agency is trying to locate a parent who owes child support payments; > > state financial aid programs have been requested; > > it is for statistical use; > > agencies request tax information for the purpose of tax administration. Your misapprehension may be a result of the various presidential candidates making it a habit for at least the last several election cycles to release their tax returns to the media. Members of and candidates for federal office are also required to file personal financial disclosure forms if they use over $5000 of their personal money in a campaign which, since they all do, means they all have to file. Hence every year or so there are news stories reporting that so-and-so is the wealthiest member of Congress but the numbers are always reported in extremely broad ranges. You can search for them [here](http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/). ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942/11 "2004-11-21T19:16:06Z")
Maybe they just put it in so that everybody would forget about the anti-abortion rider. Like maybe they changed the rules regarding whether DeLay could keep his post if indicted, to stop people from talking about whether they change the rules on fillibustering judicial nominations. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942/12 "2004-11-21T21:52:14Z")
If y’all think Istook was doing anything of his own accord… I have this car…only driven by this little old lady… honest. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942/13 "2004-11-22T00:40:39Z")
It sounds like Sen. Frist is [pissed.](http://cnn.allpolitics.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=CNN.com+-+Frist%3A+Tax-returns+measure+indefensible+-+Nov+21%2C+2004&expire=-1&urlID=12356953&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2004%2FALLPOLITICS%2F11%2F21%2Ftax.provision%2Findex.html&partnerID=2001) I wonder if Istook slipped this in to show the absurdity of having congressmen try to review a huge spending bill in only a few hours? It’s a thought. I wonder what his response will be. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942/14 "2004-11-22T00:52:11Z")
Remember that the house and Senate are two totally seperate entities. The house is very much more rabid conservative that the Senate, Istook was working on someones orders. You can bet on that. Texas comes to mind. But I can’t prove it. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942/15 "2004-11-22T06:04:07Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I wonder if Istook slipped this in to show the absurdity of having congressmen try to review a huge spending bill in only a few hours? That _ **must** _ be it. Sneaking a big-brother law with real repercussions in illustrates that point much better than a harmless page with something silly written on it, like “This bill is being passed even though nobody has read this very page, on which we rule that November 21 will henceforth be known as Congress is a Bunch of Big Fat Humps Day.” If my bitterness is too much, I apologize. It’s just that I’m sure like the Pubbies _would_ claim it was all to make an ironic point if they thought they could get away with it. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942/16 "2004-11-22T17:21:04Z")
Just a minor nitpick, but when Senator Bill Frist is peeved, it’s spelled, **“Frist is Pist.”** 😛 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942/17 "2004-11-23T09:52:30Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > Remember that the house and Senate are two totally seperate entities. The house is very much more rabid conservative that the Senate, > > Istook was working on someones orders. > > You can bet on that. > > Texas comes to mind. > > But I can’t prove it. Of course you can’t. Istook’s pic is in the dictionary, next to “loose cannon”. [Update in this morning’s WaPo](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5738-2004Nov22.html): > [@](#): > > The provision, House sources said, was drafted by the IRS and inserted into the bill by lower-level House staffers. Senior House and Senate Republicans said they never saw it until the bill appeared on the floor, and yesterday IRS spokesman Terry Lemons said the IRS commissioner “was unaware of the provision until after it was already approved” and “strongly supports it being deleted from the final bill.” > > On Saturday, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) referred to the provision as the “Istook amendment,” and congressional aides said it had been inserted at the request of Rep. Ernest J. Istook Jr. (R-Okla.), who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the IRS. > > But yesterday Istook said in a written statement that he had been left in the dark about the provision: “I didn’t write it; I didn’t approve it; I wasn’t even consulted. My name shouldn’t be associated with it because I had nothing to do with it.” > > Micah Leydorf, Istook’s spokeswoman, said she understood the language was added by the full Appropriations Committee staff or by Istook’s subcommittee staff at the direction of staffers for the full committee. > > “We have a problem with how bills like this are put together,” Istook acknowledged. “The subcommittee chairman should never be bypassed like I was in this case.” > > He added that “honest mistakes were made but there’s no conspiracy.” Must be fun to be a GOP Congressional staffer; you can change legislation that’s been passed by both houses of Congress, without the permission of an actual Congressdroid. I suppose it’s possible that the process is _that_ broken. But doesn’t it say wonderful things about the party of accountability and personal responsibility? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942/18 "2004-11-23T13:14:18Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I suppose it’s possible that the process is _that_ broken. Suppose? One of the line items in this budget is $225,000 for catfish research. That’s less than 1 millionth of the entire spending bill, yet it’s apparently important enough to merit being called out specifically for review. That’s like having the CEO of IBM reviewing the purchase of one midrange server as part of the annual budget. When you’re allowed to insert riders for things this ridiculously small, nobody can manage it effectively. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942/19 "2004-11-23T13:49:51Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > Remember that the house and Senate are two totally seperate entities. The house is very much more rabid conservative that the Senate, > > Istook was working on someones orders. > > You can bet on that. > > Texas comes to mind. > > But I can’t prove it. yeah, this affair has DeLay’s stink all over it. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942/20 "2004-11-23T14:42:38Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > It sounds like Sen. Frist is [pissed.](http://cnn.allpolitics.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=CNN.com+-+Frist%3A+Tax-returns+measure+indefensible+-+Nov+21%2C+2004&expire=-1&urlID=12356953&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2004%2FALLPOLITICS%2F11%2F21%2Ftax.provision%2Findex.html&partnerID=2001) > > I wonder if Istook slipped this in to show the absurdity of having congressmen try to review a huge spending bill in only a few hours? IIRC David Lee Roth said VH’s wacky requests for a bowl of M&Ms sans brown ones in the dressing room wasn’t because they were insane. He said if attention had been paid to that detail, he knew everything else had been taken care of. Don’t know what that has to do with your comment, but it made me think of that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/istook-all-your-tax-returns-are-belong-to-the-gop/275942.md?page=2)