Thursday, October 23, 1997

Reforming IRS outweighs gains of party politics

We should have known that the minute reforming the Internal Revenue Service was mentioned in Congress, the interests of the American people would immediately take a back seat to the interests of political parties.

Congressional Republicans proposed a reform plan, which was immediately objected to by Democrats -- because it was, of course, a Republican plan. Democrats offered their own version, which was immediately rejected by Republicans because it was a Democratic plan.

Never mind what anybody's plan was intrinsically worth for American taxpayers who have been abused by the IRS. Such a "minor" concern seemed irrelevant in the face of the overriding question of which party was going to come out looking the best.

At first, President Clinton opposed the Republican congressional majority's plan because he is, after all, a Democratic president. But somehow this week, the White House got the message that the president is supposed to be everybody's president, not just his partys.

So Tuesday, Clinton endorsed the Republican reform of the IRS -- and was promptly jumped on by Republicans for trying to steal a GOP idea and by Democrats for deserting the cause.

Isn't it a wonder anything ever gets gone in Washington?

The major provision of the GOP bill is vital to all Americans, whether Republican or Democrat. It would require the IRS to prove in court that someone it was investigating is guilty, instead of demanding that the accused prove he or she is innocent.

That's a pretty easy call, and both Democrats and Republicans should be able to make it, even if the winner turns out to be us ordinary taxpayers rather than a political party.