There are few things that illustrate how morally bankrupt the Republican Party is more than their obstinacy toward calls for any meaningful investigation into clearly questionable aspects of unpopular President Donald Trump’s finances. The specter of financial conflicts of interest, combined with the ongoing investigations into the Trump campaign’s ties to foreign intelligence outfits and criminal activity, would lead most rationally minded people to be somewhat curious to see some of the available financial information. At the very least you might think Trump’s tax returns, something he himself said he would release, and the four decades worth of candidate tax return transparency history in our country would be something both parties would agree was “fair game” for perusing. But you would be wrong. House Resolution 479, brought by Democrat Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) and cosponsored by other Democrats, had sought to do just that.
Of inquiry directing the Secretary of the Treasury to provide to the House of Representatives the tax return information of President Donald J. Trump as well as the tax returns of each business entity disclosed by Donald J. Trump on his Office of Government Ethics Form 278e.
Not a difficult thing to understand. The argument is that if a president is going to make sweeping reforms to tax law, we should be aware of any possible conflicts of interest. As The Hill explains, on Thursday a handful of Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee made sure to scuttle the bill’s chances of being voted on by everyone in Congress.
The House Ways and Means Committee voted along party lines to unfavorably report the measure to the House Floor. [...]
The measure was a “resolution of inquiry,” meaning the bill could have received a floor vote if the panel didn't act within 14 legislative days of it being introduced.
The chairman of the Ways and Means Committee is Texas Republican Rep. Kevin Brady. If you want to know how detestable a human being Rep. Kevin Brady is you need only look at how bald-faced a liar he can be from year to year, using the same letterhead in his leadership role for the Republican Party. But here’s his quote on doing his part to disassemble our republic.
“To be frank, this measure is a procedural tool being utilized, and I believe abused, for obvious political purposes,” Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said.
You’re never “frank.” “Frank,” isn’t full of shit, congressman.