Wendy Sherman: “Vote against this rule for three reasons: First, it is a closed rule. You should always vote against a closed rule. But…”

“Vote against this rule for three reasons: First, it is a closed rule. You should always vote against a closed rule. But second, it is the embodiment of a pernicious tradition of always having closed rules on tax bills. That is outrageous. Why would we not apply that to everything that Congress deals with? We are told: Well, if we don't have a closed rule, we have to have an open rule; we don't want an open rule on a tax bill. You could have a structured rule. You could have germane amendments. What does a closed rule on every tax bill mean? It means that over 400 of us can never offer an amendment about taxation, and it also means that, if an amendment is hotly debated in the Ways and Means Committee and prevails or is defeated by one vote, then the entire House cannot chime in on that issue. The second reason to vote against this rule is to break this ironclad tradition of closed rules on tax bills. There is a third reason, and that is, my amendment to strike section 202 was not allowed. I am an old CPA. I headed the second largest tax agency in this country. I am very interested in easing the burden on taxpayers. This bill generally does that. But section 202 is designed-- doesn't actually do this, but it pushes in the direction of locking in the free file system. That is a contract that the IRS has with TurboTax and H&R Block that is supposed to allow everyone with an income of under $66,000 to file for free.…”