Out of nowhere flashed the rumor, sweeping across Capitol Hill, lighting up switchboards, sending Democratic congressional aides running helter-skelter to newsmen with the breathless question: "Anything from the White House yet?"
The rumor: the Eisenhower Administration was about to send a tax-cutting bill to Congress.
House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Wilbur Mills, ordinarily a calm, slow-going Arkansan, got the word during hearings on reciprocal trade, rushed from the room, set up a telephone command post in a nearby office, alerted Speaker Sam Rayburn, huddled with other Democratic leaders, issued urgent orders...
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