They are a central element in a stepped-up campaign by congressional Republicans to demonize the tax agency, already the least loved of all government bureaucracies. Congress is now embarked on a broad-based effort to strip the IRS of much of its independence and power. A bipartisan band of lawmakers wants to create a new board of private-sector overseers and to impose other broad changes in the way the agency conducts its business. To deflect that thrust, a group of Democratic lawmakers is pushing a milder IRS overhaul plan supported by the Clinton administration. Sen. William Roth, R-Del., chairman of the Finance Committee, said in an interview that he had no broader agenda than to clean house at the IRS and impose some form of accountability on its actions.
Every American taxpayer is entitled to be treated fairly and civilly.
We have found that there are too many cases where that is not the situation. There is wide support among congressional Republicans for a flat tax, which would significantly simplify tax-collection efforts and rob the IRS of much of the discretion it now exercises in reviewing taxpayers' filings. Much of what the senators will hear from aggrieved taxpayers, IRS tax collectors and senior agency officials is a familiar tale, played out in congressional hearings and media exposes for decade upon decade. Republican and Democratic administrations have promised for years to remake the IRS as an efficient, consumer-friendly agency that will collect the citizenry's taxes without trampling upon its rights. I don't think there have been hearings on abuse of taxpayers in quite some time, but there have been hearings ad nauseam on mismanagement and ethical misconduct.