CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer has more about the IRS and the politics of bashing the tax man. The Clinton administration's effort to pass a nationalized health-care plan was a blatant attempt to win over voters, and was surely highlighted in Democratic fundraising letters. Democratic-run hearings were used to build support for the Clinton plan. But we don't remember CBS calling all that a political stunt. Also missing in all of the IRS coverage was Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle's parliamentary maneuver yesterday to shut down most committee work, including the IRS hearings, by invoking a rarely used rule to protest actions by the Republican majority.
Partisan stunts seem only to occur when the ideas presented curtail the power of government.
It looks like there's going to be a debate and a vote on campaign finance reform after all. Republicans and Democrats, including the President, appear to have worked it out today so that the full Senate will debate and vote on campaign finance reform by the end of the year. In other words, how encouraging it is that the media can help translate liberal misdeeds into more liberal legislation.