Chet Collins

I’m glad that we’ll get to see the Trump tax returns, but this has been an awful episode.

First, the facts are now in evidence that the Committee used spurious legal justifications to get them. They may have been entitled to them under law, but hiding behind the fig leaf of double-checking IRS audit procedures was a flat-out lie. The evidence is the 30-second study that they undertook before voting to release the returns. They wanted them to release them to the public to tar him and so they did.

Second, tax returns are supposed to be private by law. The IRS leaked reams of private tax data on billionaires to Pro Publica last summer. After 18 months of “investigation,” no one has been held accountable. This harms the credibility of the IRS and sows doubts in the minds of taxpayers that the IRS and Treasury are going to be able to protect their data as required by law.

Finally, every presidential candidate in recent times, except for Trump, voluntarily released their tax returns. Trump didn’t, that was his choice. The voters elected him anyway. The fact that these are being released without his consent is deeply troubling.

Now, as the game of politics is played, we wait until January when the Republican majority exacts their revenge by obtaining and releasing the private tax returns of whomever they don’t like.

House Committee Voted to Release Trump’s Tax Returns: Live Updates

For those wondering, the pizza is from Matchbox, a chain with a location several blocks away in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

Excellent taste! 🍕

I love the strong feeling of restful conclusion that the final two weeks of the year bring.

Equifax, a private company, scooped up reams of my private data, without my consent, and sold it to innumerable third-parties without compensating me.

Through gross negligence, they were hacked, a breach that went undetected for weeks.

As settlement for their reckless behavior that put my private information into the hands of unknown criminal elements, they paid me a settlement of $5.21.

Toyota Chief Says ‘Silent Majority’ Has Doubts About Pursuing Only EVs - WSJ

“Because the right answer is still unclear, we shouldn’t limit ourselves to just one option,” Mr. Toyoda said. Over the past few years, Mr. Toyoda said, he has tried to convey this point to industry stakeholders, including government officials—an effort he described as tiring at times.

He gets it.

Vatican Dismisses U.S. Antiabortion Activist From Priesthood - WSJ

The statement didn’t specify the infractions for which Mr. Pavone was being disciplined but said that he had been “given ample opportunity to defend himself” and to “submit himself to the authority of his diocesan bishop” before being found guilty in a proceeding under church law.

Not sure the facts, but the optics are worse than terrible.