Potential Massachusetts Governor Voices Tax Concerns before Congress.

Publication: The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News)

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COPYRIGHT 2001 The Boston Globe

Byline: Glen Johnson

Mar. 15--WASHINGTON -- Jane Swift yesterday delivered her first testimony to Congress as the governor in waiting, but her complaints about Internet taxation, and her fear it could create a second Internal Revenue Service, left some senators shaking their heads in disbelief.

"I don't think she knows what she's talking about," Senator Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, said in a break with the Senate's normally collegial atmosphere.

"You can't come to the Congress and just not know your subject," Rockefeller, a former governor, said as he left the Senate Commerce Committee hearing. "She missed the point and then denied missing the point. It was embarrassing -- for her."

A Swift aide took issue with the criticisms.

"To suggest that she doesn't understand the issues is ridiculous," said spokesman Jason Kauppi. "Maybe she's saying things they don't want to hear, but she definitely...

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