Democrats Plan Soviet-Style Move To Get Their Hands on Trump’s Tax Returns
Jose Nino
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House Democrats are getting closer to prying President Trump’s tax returns from the Treasury Department.
Although Democratic big wigs and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) haven’t announced the exact date that they will make the request for Trump’s tax returns, several lawmakers have hinted that action could come pretty soon.
On Tuesday, Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) gave his prediction that the request will come about in the “next couple of weeks.”
At the end of the day, it’s up to Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal to send Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin a letter requesting Trump’s tax returns. Neal has taken a cautious approach to this request because he believes that this could lead to a drawn-out court battle.
A provision of the federal tax code allows the chairmen of Congress’s two tax committees to request tax returns and related information from the Treasury Department. These committees are then allowed to review these documents behind closed doors. There is also the possibility of a committee vote to send a report to the full House or Senate, which could potentially publicize all of the tax information.
However, Congress has rarely taken advantage of this power. The most recent case of Congress using these powers was when Republicans investigated the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status.
Getting their hands on Trump’s tax returns is one the Democrat’s top priorities in the current Congress. They believe that these tax returns hold the secrets to numerous conflicts of interests Trump allegedly has with foreign governments.
Make no mistake about it, Democrat’s efforts to obtain President Trump’s tax returns are nothing more than a witch hunt. This is just another case demonstrating why the U.S.’s burdensome income tax system should be scrapped.
Giving politicians or bureaucrats the power to use the tax system as a political weapon is as Soviet as it gets. As the government grows bigger by the year, the potential for abuse by petty authoritarians in government only increases.
To quell the threat of government abuse, we must reduce the size of government and keep it shackled. Let’s start with abolishing the IRS.
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