Can the IRS save the Republican Party? For months, Republicans in Congress have foundered without an agenda, leadership or even an issue with which to attract public attention and support. But last week’s Senate hearings on IRS abuses put Republicans back on center stage, sparking more favorable press coverage than any issue they have tackled in the past three years.
The hearings had all the elements of high drama. There was mystery, human interest, villains and heroes. Agency whistle-blowers testified behind screens, their voices mechanically altered to disguise their identities. The plot involved money, corruption and absolute power. One after another, witnesses told of being hounded by unscrupulous bureaucrats.
On the side of the innocent and righteous stood Senate Finance Committee chairman William V. Roth (R-Del.) and his Republican colleagues, who had the guts to take on an agency clearly out of control.
Make no mistake, this was a Republican show all the way. Democrats on the committee were dubious about the hearings, fearing another embarrassment for the Clinton administration in light of recent charges that the IRS has initiated audits against the president’s enemies, including sexual-harassment accuser Paula Jones. And Democrats are even more skeptical about Republican intentions when it comes to fixing what’s wrong with the IRS.
Democrats fear that these IRS hearings are just a warm-up act to serious tax reform. It’s optimistic to believe they’re right. But if Republicans in Congress really expect to get more than a momentary upward blip in their approval ratings, they will have to do more than take on the tax collectors. The real enemy is the tax code itself.
The last comprehensive tax reform took place more than a decade ago under President Ronald Reagan. The 1986 legislation accomplished two important goals: lower rates and tax simplification. Since then, both a Democratic president and a Republican Congress have largely destroyed the latter accomplishment, introducing arcane modifications that have made the tax code far more complicated and unfair. And President Clinton has increased tax rates by about one-third, with the top rate now at almost 40 percent.
There was a time when the Republican Party stood for lower taxes. Voters knew this, liked it and voted for Republican presidential candidates. Then, President George Bush raised taxes, breaking not only an explicit campaign promise but blurring the distinction between Republican and Democratic political principles. Since then, voters have rightfully been leery of Republican promises. Recent polls show that Americans actually trust the Democrats more than the Republicans to lower taxes, even though Democratic President Bill Clinton and his Democratic Congress gave the country its biggest tax increase in history in 1993.
So, what can the Republicans do now?
Two Republican House members have hit on an idea that might excite some enthusiasm. House majority leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) and Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.) will hit the road in a barnstorming tour this month to debate a flat tax (Armey’s favorite) vs. a national sales tax (Tauzin’s proposal) to replace the current federal tax system.
The Armey/Tauzin debates will have the advantage of being held out of Washington, where they might actually get noticed by a less jaded local press.
It’s a great warm-up to the 1998 congressional elections. And who knows? A real tax debate, not the muddled confusion of recent years, might even renew American voters’ faith that a Republican in the White House would mean lower taxes.
