Some errors take longer than others to correct. After Congress realized that nearly had destroyed the yacht-building industry in the home state of a liberal Democrat, it was quickly rescinded. That is much quicker action than in the case of the phone tax the House recently voted to repeal. The Spanish-American War is over, and the good guys won.
Telephones are more plentiful now, and their use is highly taxed.
The government is enjoying enormous windfall profits. It is safe to repeal the 1898 tax, without imperiling democracy. Government actions, good or bad, can take time to change. In 1803, the British created a civil service job that entailed watching from the cliffs of Dover for Napoleon Bonaparte's invading fleet. The job was eliminated in 1945.