D.C. was rocked last week by the news that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had targeted certain conservative groups for closer scrutiny when they applied for non-profit status. Hearings got underway quickly, and they are sure to continue.

A number of bills were introduced. Wakerider bills, we like to call them, because they surf the news. But surf’s up! So let’s see what is in the hopper.

H.R. 1950 is called the Taxpayer Nondiscrimination & Protection Act of 2013. Introduced by Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH), it would create criminal penalties for “misconduct against taxpayers by Internal Revenue Service employees,” such as violating their First Amendment rights.

H.R. 2025 would require the termination of IRS employees for discriminating against any taxpayer on the basis of political affiliation. It was introduced by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) with one cosponsor, fellow Arizonan Rep. Matt Salmon (R).

Rep. John Fleming (R) from Louisiana wants the IRS to stand down during Congress’s review of its actions. His bill, H.R. 2045, would prohibit the IRS from initiating any new audits for 180 days.

Then, of course, there was the news that the IRS official in charge of the office reviewing tax-exempt organizations for part of the time that it was allegedly doing partisan reviews is now in charge of the office implementing Obamacare. It’s a gift to Republicans, who had already scheduled a vote to repeal Obamacare last week.

New bills emphasizing this theme include:

H.R. 1993, which would prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from hiring new employees to enforce “the Federal Government’s invasion into the health care lives of American citizens.” It’s the brainchild of Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA).

H.R. 2009 is the offering of Rep. Tom Price (R-GA). It would prohibit the Secretary of the Treasury from enforcing Obamacare.

Similar bill H.R. 2022 would prohibit the implementation or enforcement of any requirement of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act until certifications are made that taxpayer information is not and will not be used for targeting any individual or group that provides information to the Internal Revenue Service for political reasons or on the basis of political views. The bill’s sponsor is Rep. Diane Black (R) from Tennessee.

Senators are generally more circumspect, but there are a couple of bills inspired by the IRS scandal in the Senate.

S. 983 is the “Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act of 2013.” Its sponsor is Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). It evidently would keep the IRS off your health care…

And there’s S. 962. The bill would go after the funding of Obamacare, prohibiting “amounts made available by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 from being transferred to the Internal Revenue Service for implementation of such Acts.” The author of this bill is Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV), along with a quartet of cosponsors: Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK).

Senator Rubio has a bill of his own in this area. S. 941 would “prevent discriminatory misconduct against taxpayers” by Federal officers and employees. The text is not available, but it’s an amendment to the criminal code, so it’s likely a lot like H.R. 1950—fines and potential jail time for rogue IRS employees.

Scandal wakes up D.C.!

Things certainly were interesting over the past week. The IRS is not one of the government’s most beloved agencies, and the implication that it worked to throw the last election is electric for Beltway media and politicians.

Expect much more in this area during the weeks and months to come…

S. 937 would prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from applying disproportionate scrutiny to applicants for tax-exempt status based on ideology.

A classic example of wakerider legislation, which surfs the headlines.

Could there be a more obscurely named bill?

Scheduled for debate in the Senate this week, S. 743, the Marketplace Fairness Act, is a bill to permit states to levy taxes on Internet sales—y’know, your purchases on Amazon, eBay, fridgefilters.com, and so on. (Yes, there is a site dedicated to filters for your refrigerator.)

Many of these transactions aren’t currently taxed because they cross state lines. Your state can’t require someone outside the state to collect tax from you or pay a tax into your state. So out-of-state sellers have a leg up on in-state sellers, who do have to pay sales tax.

Technically, you’re likely supposed to pay a use tax on the things you buy from out of state, but do you?

HAHAHAHA! No.

So the bill, sponsored by Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY), would allow states to tax sellers in other states.

(Though it’s chief sponsor is a Republican, most of its support comes from Democrats. Take a look at the sponsor list on the page for the bill.)

Interstate taxation of this kind means fairness between in-state retailers and out-of-state retailers—both would have to pay sales taxes to your state. But it also means a tax increase for you. More of your online purchases would include sales taxes.

So, do you want to pay more taxes in the name of fairness of this kind? That should determine where you come down on the bill. That’s what the Marketplace Fairness is all about: taxes.

Here is the current vote on S. 743, the Marketplace Fairness Act. Click to vote, comment, learn more, or edit the wiki article on the bill.

Every Thanksgiving since 2008—that is, excepting last year (oops)—we’ve published the “sinful mashed potatoes” recipe right here on the WashingtonWatch.com blog. Why? Well, it sure makes the recipe easy to find when I need it. And maybe you’ll enjoy it, too.

But our track record hasn’t been stellar. In 2008, we published the recipe on Thanksgiving day in the early evening. That was lame. In 2009, we got it out there in the evening ahead of Thanksgiving—maybe just in time to run out for the ingredients. And in 2010, it went up right around the middle of the afternoon on Thanksgiving. Too late!

This year is special. We’re going up with the recipe a full day ahead of Thanksgiving. We’re giving you a real chance, this time, to make the “sinful mashed potatoes” recipe.

So here’s the recipe—Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

“Sinful” Mashed Potatoes
(serves 6-8)
2 C hot or cold mashed potatoes
1 large package (8 oz.) cream cheese, room temp
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 eggs
2 T flour
salt and pepper to taste
1 can 3.5 oz. French-fried onion rings

Put potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Add cream cheese, chopped onion, egg, and flour. Beat at medium speed until ingredients are blended, then high speed until light and fluffy. Taste, add salt and pepper if needed.

Spoon into greased 9-inch-square baking dish. Distribute canned onions evenly over the top. Bake, uncovered, 300 degrees, for about 35 minutes.

As we’ve done in the past, we’ll also feature the bills in Congress related to food and hunger. Something for you to consider while the potatoes boil.

S. Res. 484 would designate June 7, 2012, as “National Hunger Awareness Day.” (So would S. Res. 204.) H. Res. 655 would express support for that designation.

H.R. 3177, the Hunger Relief Trucking Tax Credit Act, would provide a tax credit for the transportation of food for charitable purposes.

S. 166, the Good Samaritan Hunger Relief Tax Incentive Extension Act of 2011, would permanently extend and expand the charitable deduction for contributions of food inventory.

H.R. 350, the Anti-hunger Empowerment Act of 2011, would “provide greater access to the supplemental nutrition assistance program by reducing duplicative and burdensome administrative requirements,” and it would “authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to award grants to certain community-based nonprofit feeding and anti-hunger groups for the purpose of establishing and implementing a Beyond the Soup Kitchen Pilot Program for certain socially and economically disadvantaged populations.” The cost estimate we have for it puts it at about $7.50 per U.S. family.

There you have it. Your Thanksgiving review of hunger-related bills, to be considered while you whip up some sinfully delicious mashed potatoes…

The House has made a practice the last few years of reserving the bills with the lowest numbers for leadership to use. H.R. 1-10 were reserved for the Speaker of the House (the top House Republican), and H.R. 11-20 for the Minority Leader (the top House Democrat).

When they’re introduced, we put ‘em up on the site just like all the others, but sometimes they kinda sneak in due to the way Congress publishes the bill data that we use. So here are a couple of Minority Leader bills that were introduced late last week, just in case you missed ‘em:

H.R. 15, The Middle Class Tax Cut Act
and
H.R. 16, The Sensible Estate Tax Relief Act of 2012

The Minority Leader “marquis” bills that have been introduced prior to these are:

H.R. 11, The Build America Bonds to Create Jobs Now Act of 2011
H.R. 12, The American Jobs Act of 2011 – costs $1,180 per U.S. family
H.R. 14, The MAP-21

Because Republicans control the House, Democrats have little chance to move the bills they like, but this is a good look at the bills they’ve introduced in response to the issues of the day.

Jobs and tax cuts are major issues, and these bills signal what Democrats would do if they ran the show.

Last week, the Senate passed a bill to keep most Bush-era tax cuts from expiring. The bill was S. 3412, the Middle Class Tax Cut Act. It maintained most rates but allowed them to increase for those high-income 1-percenters (or whatever you may want to call them).

This week, the House will pass its version, which keeps all tax rates at current levels: H.R. 8, the Job Protection and Recession Prevention Act of 2012.

We get it. Senate Democrats want tax rates to stay pretty much the same. House Republicans want tax rates to stay entirely the same. But what they really want are sharp political sticks to poke each other with, and they have produced just that with their differing versions of tax-rate-extending legislation.

So let’s talk about something interesting, another tax-related bill going to the House floor this week: H.R. 6169, the Pathway to Job Creation through a Simpler, Fairer Tax Code Act of 2012.

The bill doesn’t change any tax laws. It doesn’t raise tax rates, and it doesn’t lower them. It rejiggers the way House and Senate rules will work for the right kind of tax legislation next year.

It greases the right kind of tax bill, making it harder to kill using the many procedural hurdles the House and Senate rules contain—particularly the Senate’s.

So, if the bill passes, and next year by April 30th the chair of the Joint Committee on Taxation notifies the House and Senate that a bill contains the following proposals, it will be easier to pass:

• a consolidation of the current 6 individual income tax brackets into not more than two brackets of 10 and not more than 25 percent;
• a reduction in the corporate tax rate to not greater than 25 percent;
• a repeal of the Alternative Minimum Tax;
• a broadening of the tax base to maintain revenue between 18 and 19 percent of the economy; and
• a change from a `worldwide’ to a `territorial’ system of taxation.

The politics here are interesting. This is probably stuff that Senate Democrats don’t want to do, but the bill wouldn’t do any of them. It would only affect House and Senate procedures next year, which is after the next election. House Republicans evidently think they might be able to box enough Senate Democrats into accepting this bill that they commit the next Senate to debating a bill with these provisions in it.

It’s confusing. It’s strange. It’s a procedural monster. But it just might mean some very interesting tax reform debates on this bill, and, if it passes, on the bills that get those expedited procedures.

If you understood this post, Congratulations! You are a reeeeeal policy wonk!

S. 3299 would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow Indian tribes to receive charitable contributions of apparently wholesome food.

…might just improve your salads and other dishes calling for just the right piquancy!

H.R. 5272 would extend the temporary suspension of duty on capers, prepared or preserved by vinegar or acetic acid, in containers holding 3.4 kg or less

H.R. 5275 would extend the temporary suspension of duty on capers, prepared or preserved by vinegar or acetic acid, in immediate containers holding more than 3.4 kg.

Perhaps you prefer pepperoncini peppers.

S. 2483 would suspend temporarily the duty on 1,3-propanediaminium, N-[3- [[[dimethyl[3- [2-methyl-1- oxo-2- propenyl) amino] propyl] ammonio] acetyl]amino] propyl] -2- hydroxy- N,N,N’,N’,N’- pentamethyl-, trichloride, polymer with 2-propenamide

Print it out and mail it!

H.R. 4423 would suspend temporarily the duty on cyan 854 inkjet printing ink.

H.R. 4424 would suspend temporarily the duty on cyan 1 RO inkjet printing ink.

H.R. 4425 would suspend temporarily the duty on black 661 inkjet printing ink.

H.R. 4426 would suspend temporarily the duty on black 820 inkjet printing ink.