2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forum"CRS Refuses To Disclose Who Requested Withdrawal Of Report On Marginal Rates" - Psst, Republicans!
We have all heard how the Congressional Research Service retracted a report showing that there was little correlection between higher marginal tax rates and economic growth. A copy of the retracted report is available at this link:
Taxes and the Economy: An Economic Analysis of the Top Tax Rates Since 1945
However, Republicans and the CRS are refusing to disclose who requested that the report be withdrawn:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2012/11/28/crs-refuses-to-disclose-who-requested-withdrawal-of-report-on-marginal-rates/
... Congressman Sander Levin wrote to Mary Mazanac the CRS director on November 1 to ask why the report was taken down. Her initial response was to assure the Congressman that the report was not taken down because of Republican pressure:
I want to assure you that our decision to temporarily withdraw the report from distribution on our website was not the result of political pressure. We take very seriously our obligation to be nonpartisan and to preserve our reputation for objectivity. We would quickly lose our value as an advisor to all Members and staff if we were seen as having an agenda or bowing to partisan pressure. What is of paramount concern for us is that CRS provide the best possible research and analysis to you and to all Members.
In a follow up Congressman Levin asked:
You noted that the decision to remove the report from the website was made by you, after discussion with Service and division management. Was CRS ever asked by the staff of a Congressional office to retract the report?
Her response was:
You inquire whether CRS was ever asked by staff of a congressional office to retract the report. As you can understand, we cannot reveal the details of meetings we have conducted with other congressional clients. Confidentiality is one of our core values and it is essential to the viability of our close, consultative relationships with all Members and staff. CRS has never withdrawn a report solely at the direction of a Member or staff of a congressional office. We weigh carefully comments from our clients concerning our products but the decision to revise a report or withdraw it from our website is ours alone. That was the case here.
LiberalFighter
(50,956 posts)Who is paying for those reports?
jaysunb
(11,856 posts)It would be a feature story, naming names and asking question....no matter where or who it leads to.
This kind of journalistic failure is what keeps a large portion of our country on stupid mountain.