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American Morning

IRS Letter Criticized As Republican Propaganda by Congressional Democrats

Aired June 20, 2001 - 11:09   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the IRS letter that most of us will be getting next month, this one before the tax refund does arrive. The agency plans to mail the one-page form you see here next month.

It reads, in part: "We are pleased to inform you that the United States Congress and President George W. Bush signed into law the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, which provides long-term relief for all Americans who pay income taxes."

The mailing itself is expected to cost at least $21 million. Therefore, it's getting some strong criticism from Democrats for content and for the cost of it. White house officials, though, have been defending this letter.

Joining us now, CNN White House correspondent Kelly Wallace. Kelly, what have you been hearing?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Leon, this is an interesting story. Democrats are saying this is all about politics, but the white house says it's all about protecting the IRS from being inundated with phone calls.

Now, the White House does admit it did play a role and consulted with the IRS on this letter. Three administration officials were on a conference call with Treasury Department officials when the language of the letter was decided. The administration is saying the language is straightforward and explanatory, but Democratic Senator Charles Schumer sees it quite differently. He thinks the language of the letter and just the fact that this letter is going out is a way for the White House to score some political points with taxpayers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: This letter is imbued with political rhetoric, and it leads to the inevitable conclusion that its purpose was not informative, but rather political. It risks harming the reputation of the IRS, sets an unfortunate precedent, and wastes millions of dollars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: Well, the White House says the idea for this letter originated with the IRS. The administration saying that IRS officials concluded that if they started sending out millions of rebate checks to taxpayer, many of whom don't expect or don't usually get checks from the IRS in the mail, that their phone lines would be flooded. So, the IRS wanting to take this move to protect the agency again from being overwhelmed with phone calls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: They are in the best position of anybody in the government to know whether or not receipt of 100 million unexplained checks is going to all of a sudden cause more problems if people do not have any type of notice that they are going to be receiving a check of this nature. So, the IRS sending out the notice as part of the routine communications, and properly so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: Now, some Democrats are questioning why couldn't the IRS just include this explanatory letter in the same envelope with the rebate checks, which are expected to be started to go to taxpayers next month. Well, the IRS is saying it was prohibited by government regulation from including such a letter in the same envelope. Bottom line here, Leon, the White House is saying this is much ado about nothing, but as you can see, some Democrats disagree -- Leon.

HARRIS: Yes, and we're not surprised by. Thanks much, Kelly Wallace at the White House.

Let's check now and see what kind of backlash we can expect from this mailing. Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider joins us now. He's in New York, road tripping there for the day. Hi, Bill, good to see you.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Good to see you, Leon.

HARRIS: What's your take on all of this?

SCHNEIDER: Oh, I call it a case of slick politics. I mean, you heard the case made by the White House, that this is quote, "routine," unquote. Well, it's not exactly routine. People don't get $300 and $600 checks from the government as a matter of routine, and frankly, I'm not sure I follow the argument why this explanation couldn't have been included with the check and if there's no explanation included with the check, people are still going to be confused.

I think it's slick politics, it's unusual, hardly routine, but I don't think Democrats should go out of proportion on this. It was a case where they took advantage of the situation.

HARRIS: Has it ever been done before?

SCHNEIDER: Oh, my goodness! How many times have you gotten a rebate check from the government for anything? Not very often.

(LAUGHTER) HARRIS: Well, maybe not that particular part of it, but a letter sent out like that claiming credit or making sure that a certain person or certain group does get credit for something that's to come down the road?

SCHNEIDER: Well, I have seen letters saying the Congress, the president, but very rarely do they say President Bill Clinton or President George W. Bush has signed this bill into law. The personalization of the letter is what I think Democrats object to.

They were very careful to say Congress passed the tax cut, the tax bill which includes a tax cut, and President George W. Bush signed it into law. There is a little bit of promotion going on here, and I think somebody in the White House took advantage of the situation.

HARRIS: Is there any question in your mind at all what Republicans would be saying if President Bill Clinton had done something like that?

SCHNEIDER: They'd be saying the same thing Democrats are saying right now. They're be in a state of high dungeon and outrage, which is why some people were critical of the Republicans for using every excuse to go after President Clinton, and that's why I think Democrats have to be kind of careful about this. They should and are calling attention to it as a slick political gambit, but they shouldn't go over the edge as Republicans sometimes did when Bill Clinton was president.

HARRIS: Well, they weren't too slick for you. Bill Schneider in New York. Good to see you. Take care. Later on.

SCHNEIDER: Thanks, Leon.

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