This week in Congress: protect taxpayers from the IRS

The House of Representatives is in session Monday through Thursday this week. On Monday and Tuesday, the House will consider “suspensions.”  Since this is tax week, the House will focus on legislation dealing with the Internal Revenue Service.

One bill that will be of particular interest to Campaign for Liberty members is H.R. 4903, which prohibits the IRS from using its power to target citizens for exercising their First Amendment rights.

H.R. 4903 will be considered on suspension on Tuesday. Campaign for Liberty members who want the IRS to stop abusing their powers to punish individuals whose political activities displease the agency or other powerful politicians should call their Representatives and tell them to vote for H.R. 4903.

H.R. 4903 is worthwhile legislation but it will not stop the IRS’s attempt to force Campaign for Liberty to divulge private information about our donors.

Another bill of particular interest to Campaign for Liberty members is H.R. 4885. This bill requires the IRS to deposit any fees it collects in the general fund and prohibits them from spending the money unless explicitly authorized by Congress to do so.  This removes any incentive for IRS officials to abuse their power to levy fines against taxpayers.

Among the other legislation the House will consider is:

H.R. 1206– Prohibits the IRS from hiring anyone who is delinquent on their taxes.

H.R. 3724–Prohibits the IRS from rehiring an individual who was dismissed for “misconduct.”Really? That isn’t already a law?

H.R. 4890–Imposes a ban on bonuses for IRS employees until the IRS develops a customer service strategy.

H.R. 673– Expresses the “sense of the House” that the IRS should provide all taxpayers with free copies of information on filing their taxes. That is a great idea. I wish more thieves would provide me with instruction on how to comply with their attempts to take my money.

The Senate will finish work on the FAA reauthorization bill and then will began considering appropriation bills. The Senate is getting around the constitutional requirement that approximations bills originate in the House by taking up a House passed bill and “amending” it with the appropriations bills language. This may seem like a small thing, but if the Senate will not follow the constitutional rules regarding their own procedures, how can we trust them to follow the Constitution in other matters?

There is no small irony in the Senate taking up legislation spending money on unconstitutional programs while the House works to reign in the IRS since, as Campaign for Liberty Chairman Ron Paul has often pointed out, tax reform is useless without spending reform.