2023

As we start the new year, we can wish each other the best but should probably be prepared for something less. If the goings-on in the House of Representatives are any indication, we should be ready for dysfunction now that Republicans are in the majority. I'm not saying that Republicans have a monopoly on dysfunction; but they continue to harbor a group, however small, who are able to hold the business of the House hostage and are willing to do so. For comparison, when Senators Manchin and Sinema objected to parts of a bill being debated, those issues were resolved after the usual wrangling/horse-trading in the time-honored tradition of the democratic process. The outcome in these cases is rarely to everyone's liking but life goes on. Some of us can recall a time when this was the norm and those who rejected it were relegated to the fringes, unable to prevent progress - however you may define it. What makes the situation untenable is that a small number of Republicans appear determined to stymie the vast majority in both parties and the rest of the Republican caucus appears unwilling or unable to put them in their place. In other words, the tail is wagging the dog and the dog is fine with it. Some middle-of-the-roaders may be inclined to go along with the "democracy is messy" line offered by some Republicans. The problem is that what is happening is not just "messy" - it is destructive. Exhibit A in this regard is the first vote taken by the House after the election of the Speaker and adoption of the Rules package. This was to take back the money appropriated by the previous Congress to fund the IRS. This is what I mean by destruction. The IRS was, until that funding was passed, so far behind in its job of collecting taxes that the backlog of paperwork at its office in Austin, TX, had overflowed into the cafeteria which is now full of stacks of paper shoulder-high. The computers and software the IRS uses are vintage 70s and the staffing is woefully inadequately as anyone who has ever called the IRS helpline can attest. The reason for this state of affairs is that Congress has over the years refused to fund the IRS in keeping with the Republican philosophy of "starving the beast". The vast majority of tax-payers are low- and middle-income people who cannot hire tax lawyers and accountants to help them evade taxes. The majority of people also feel it is their civic duty to pay their taxes. These are the people who represent the low-hanging fruit that the IRS is able to pursue. They also represent, if you'll forgive the run-on metaphor, slim pickings. If the IRS is to do its job it needs the ability to go after the top 1% of taxpayers who are much more likely to evade taxes and have much larger tax bills to evade. The "beast" is by now defanged to the point that it is unable to go after the big fish. Which is exactly what Republicans want. Because the big fish are the source of the big campaign donations. If you are wondering how big the tax gap - the difference between what is due and what is collected - is, it is in the vicinity of half a trillion dollars according to Catherine Rampel, a Washington Post columnist. So while House Republicans appear to be in disarray, they are united in this kind of self-serving policy-making. Privately they probably welcome the large tax gap since it can be used to show a larger budget deficit which can in turn be used to cut back on benefits for the poor. The only reason the funding for the IRS was approved last year is that we had the political equivalent of the alignment of the planets with Democratic control of the White House and both Houses of Congress. I am aware of the downside of single-party rule, but if that is what it takes for common sense to prevail, so be it. As long as Republicans continue to support these kinds of policies, middle-of-the-roaders should not vote for them.