Speaker John Boehner talks during a weekly press conference in March of 2012. To buy this photo, go to: http://roll.cl/cqrcpix
Speaker John Boehner said that renouncing your citizenship to avoid paying taxes is “outrageous.”
In an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” the Ohio Republican was asked about reports that Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin may have renounced his U.S. citizenship to avoid paying capital gains taxes when the company went public.
“There’s already a law in the books, George, but this is outrageous,” he said. “This is absolutely outrageous.”
Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and Bob Casey (Penn.) have proposed legislation to shift the burden of proof, forcing millionaires renouncing their citizenship to prove they aren’t trying to avoid taxes.
Boehner said is “not sure” the bill is necessary.
Host George Stephanopolous asked if he would support the bill if it turns out that it is necessary.
“If it’s necessary … I would support it,” he said.
Grammy winning musician Glen Campbell, who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's, hugs his daughter Ashley, left, and wife Kim during the news conference held by Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), the co-chairman of the Congressional Taskforce on Alzheimer's Disease to urge action on Alzheimer's disease on Tuesday. To buy this photo, go to: http://roll.cl/cqrcpix
Sen. John McCain attends a press conference on defense spending. To buy this photo, go to: http://roll.cl/cqrcpix
Is McCain-Whitehouse the new McCain-Feingold?
Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) are teaming up on campaign finance reform, urging the Supreme Court to let a Montana law stand, reports Roll Call’s Eliza Newlin Carney.
In an unusual bipartisan alliance that is sure to be closely watched, McCain and Whitehouse filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court urging it to let stand a Montana law that bans corporate campaign expenditures. Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock is also scheduled to file a friend of the court brief today, with the backing of up to two dozen state attorneys general.
“Evidence from the 2010 and 2012 electoral cycles has demonstrated that so-called independent expenditures create a strong potential for corruption and the appearance thereof,” McCain and Whitehouse wrote in their amicus brief. “The news confirms, daily, that existing campaign finance rules purporting to provide for ‘independence’ and ‘disclosure’ in fact provide neither.”
In a 2010 ruling, the Supreme Court overturned a law McCain authored with then-Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold.
A pocket copy of the Constitution rests on a table during a 2009 hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building. To buy this photo, go to: http://roll.cl/cqrcpix
A conflict over how spending is approved is stalling a domestic violence bill.
House Republican leaders object to a revenue provision in the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization, which passed the Senate with bipartisan support last month, reports CQ’s John Gramlich.
The House has long interpreted the Constitution’s Origination Clause to mean all revenue legislation must originate in that chamber.
The Senate could get around the problem by seeking a conference on the narrower bill (HR 4970) the House passed May 16, but such a move would give the House significantly more leverage in talks between the two chambers and be met with opposition from opponents of the House version, including the White House, which has threatened to veto that bill.
With the House and the Senate planning weeklong recesses, it could be weeks before the issue is resolved.
Sen. Joe Lieberman speaks during a 2011 press conference. To buy this photo, go to: http://roll.cl/cqrcpix
Cybersecurity legislation is stalling in Congress.
Although several bills to address national security online are being considered by both chambers, partisanship and other pressures are thwarting progress, reports CQ’s Tim Starks.
Pressures that always threatened to block action — disagreement over the role of federal regulations in defending privately owned computer networks, concerns about the privacy and civil liberties ramifications of any bills, and even election year politics — have begun to exert themselves. And the lobbies that have been working for months to sway lawmakers — telecommunications companies, the technology industry, privacy groups and others — have suddenly become huge players behind the scenes.
Now, despite the procedural advancement of cybersecurity legislation, Congress might actually be getting further away from, not closer to, delivering the first major cybersecurity bill to the president.
Privacy and civil liberties groups have complained about bills in both chambers.
