“Following the unveiling of arguably the most politically explosive domestic policy bill of the 110th Congress last Thursday, Pelosi seemed to wholeheartedly support the tax overhaul authored by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rangel. ‘I certainly support his plan,’ Pelosi (D-Calif.) said to the assembled reporters.

“But when the transcript of the briefing came out, words were inserted — highlighted by brackets — clarifying that she supported his goal, if not his specific proposals. The final transcript read: “I certainly support his plan [to begin tax reform.]”

Pelosi finesses tax message

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi  (D-Calif.) is finessing her support of Rep. Charles Rangel’s (D-N.Y.) controversial new tax bill, highlighting Democrats’ concern about how Republicans plan to use it in the 2008 elections.

Following the unveiling of arguably the most politically explosive domestic policy bill of the 110th Congress last Thursday, Pelosi seemed to wholeheartedly support the tax overhaul authored by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rangel.

“I certainly support his plan,” Pelosi (D-Calif.) said to the assembled reporters.

But when the transcript of the briefing came out, words were inserted — highlighted by brackets — clarifying that she supported his goal, if not his specific proposals.

The final transcript read: “I certainly support his plan [to begin tax reform.]”

The distinction is an important one. Rangel was immediately criticized by the GOP as he announced his highly controversial tax plan and Republicans started trying to tie the plan to Pelosi and the Democratic leadership.

The change makes it clear that the House’s Democratic leader is supporting only the concept of changing tax laws, not every one of Rangel’s proposed changes, which would raise taxes for people with higher incomes and cut them for those with lower incomes.

The change didn’t take. Stories in The Associated Press and Congressional Quarterly (CQ) ran the initial quote.

The Federal News Service and LexisNexis transcripts don’t include the change. The CQ transcript, which notes at the top, “AS RELEASED BY REP. PELOSI’S OFFICE,” does include the after-the-fact change in brackets.

Republicans criticized the change, but irritated Pelosi aides said too much is being made of an innocent change that was not intended to deceive.

“It is clear she didn’t say it, but we put in there, in brackets, to clarify her intent,” Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami said in an e-mail exchange. “She personally supports Rangel’s plan/bill to begin tax reform, but Congress will work its will.”

Elshami added: “If The Hill feels compelled to report on this ridiculous story, let me then fill in the brackets even further:  Tax reform under chairman Rangel’s plan means a permanent repeal of the alternative minimum tax; a refundable child tax credit; an increased standard deduction; and an enhanced earned income tax credit (EITC).

Here’s the bottom line: 90 million working families will have more money each year because of the tax cuts in the Tax Reduction and Reform Act of 2007.”

What is left unsaid about Congress working its will is Pelosi’s role in altering legislation once it is approved at the committee level. Pelosi this year has significantly changed legislation before it hits the floor, ranging from war supplemental measures to the lobbying reform bill.

Pelosi’s changes to bills have triggered some grumbling from a few committee chairmen, though Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and other legislators have defended her right to make alterations.

It is not clear how Pelosi would change the bill. However, Rangel’s bill would add a surtax on people making $150,000 a year. Pelosi has suggested the wealthy are defined by those who make more than $500,000 annually.

The Rangel measure is not expected to pass this year, with most on Capitol Hill viewing it as a marker for 2009, when Democrats hope to have control of Congress and the White House.

GOP operatives are looking to use the Rangel plan as a key facet of their election-year message, targeting House Democrats in conservative-leaning districts.

Republicans compared the transcript change to the Soviet-era practice of erasing out-of-favor leaders from Kremlin photos.

“You’d expect this from the Politburo, not the U.S. House of Representatives,” said Brian Kennedy, spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).

It’s not the first time that Republicans have faulted Democrats for changing the record. After a vote was incorrectly gaveled to a close too early on Aug. 2, Republicans say Democratic leaders scrubbed from The Congressional Record many of the floor comments of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Boehner.

“Don’t like the outcome of a vote? Change it. Don’t like the way transcripts read? Scrub them,” Kennedy added.

The entire vote incident is under investigation by a select committee headed by Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.). The change to The Congressional Record is not listed in official documents as a focus of the investigation.

President Bush’s aides have also been criticized for their handling of transcripts, although in those cases the alleged changes were not even highlighted with brackets.

In November 2005, after a reporter recited a litany of damaging details related to the CIA leak investigation, then-White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, according to two transcription services, “That is accurate.”

The official White House transcript, however, read, “I don’t think that’s accurate.”

When they were asked about the discrepancy, White House officials asked the transcription services to review their transcripts. But after analyzing audio recordings and a video of the briefing available on the White House website, both CQ and the Federal News Service stood by their transcripts.

The issue came up again this year when a May transcript quoted Bush as saying, “I’m a commander guy.” But a private transcription service and reporters at the event say Bush actually said, “I’m the commander guy.”

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino stood by the White House version at a May 4 press briefing.

“It’s been reported that the president said, ‘I’m the commander guy.’ He did not. What I recalled was that he said ‘I’m a commander guy,’ meaning that he’s one of the people that listens to the commanders on the ground.”

Klaus Marre contributed to this article.