The Public Record
Sheldon Whitehouse is a United States Senator from Rhode Island, serving since January 4, 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, Whitehouse has focused on a range of issues including environmental protection, healthcare reform, and campaign finance reform. He has been a vocal advocate for addressing climate change and has worked to promote policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions and protecting natural resources. Whitehouse has also been involved in efforts to reform the political campaign finance system, emphasizing the need for transparency and accountability in political donations.
I wanted to follow up with Administrator Wheeler on something that he said in response to a question to another Senator, and it had to do, Mr. Wheeler, with not picking winners and losers in the energy industry, and that you would treat…
My concern is that this data was before the big tax bill which many of us view as a huge handout to those very high-income shareholders.
We seem to have a very serious problem of the highest-income earners paying considerably lower tax rates than many people who earn a tenth or even a hundredth of their income, which does not seem fair or efficient.
If you are confirmed, will you pledge to me that you will let me know what the number of those referrals has been in recent years and explain any policy related to those referrals?
It would mean that the Senators from that State would have no defense against that change. It would mean that the next Democratic President could appoint Rhode Islanders to Texas. It would mean that the next Republican President could…
That is absolutely correct. There is not a law that assigns within the Ninth Circuit which judges will be treated as Oregon judges and which judges will be treated as California judges. Within Rhode Island, we are part of the First Circuit…
If confirmed, I will work to ensure that the IRS operates in an impartial, nonbiased manner from top to bottom.
The IRS should never be used as a political tool, but it also does have an obligation to see that groups are not abusing the tax code and engaging in improper political activity.
Should it be something the IRS looks into if there appears to be inconsistent reporting to determine whether the reporting to the IRS is truthful or not?
I actually look at the tax gap as somewhat of a roadmap to tax avoidance, tax evasion in this country.
There is a collections gap between what taxpayers owe and what the IRS collects. It is estimated to be about $400 billion.
One of the problems we talked about in my office is the problem of shell corporations. They are used for tax avoidance and evasion.
We witnessed the administration leaning on both independent regulators and on agencies of government like DOJ that are supposed to be independent to try to impose their will.
The IRS has a history from bygone days of having been used as a political weapon.
I think in the area of de facto monopoly, it would be hard to identify an agency of government that actually has responsibility in that area.
The concern that I have is that we are not seemingly addressing that problem.
My concern is that you get these companies that come in that buy up a drug manufacturer, add no value, invest in no research, but simply crank up the price for speculative purposes.
I think one can generally divide the pharmaceutical market into three categories.
You are truly telling me that you are not going to answer this question, I should go knock on a different door in the same administration?
Politicians like Sheldon Whitehouse
