Tell Lawmakers To Vote NO! On Tax Cuts
Say no to the GOP tax scam! Call your senators today at 888-516-5820. and tell them to VOTE NO. The GOP plan gives huge tax breaks to corporations, the 1 percent, and the GOP's big-money donors. The rest of us will pay with big cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, education, and other necessities. We beat them before. Let's beat them back again.
Final Push To Derail Senate Tax Plan
Voters Urged to 'Melt the Phone Lines' to Stop Senate From Passing #GOPTaxScam. Common Dreams: "The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, with other resistance groups, began a 24-hour 'People's Filibuster' at 3:00pm on Thursday, ahead of the Senate vote on the Republican tax bill, expected by Friday. Organizations including Not One Penny, the Center for American Progress Action Fund, and Americans for Tax Fairness all planned to participate in the all-night rally at the U.S. Capitol. According to reports by numerous bipartisan analysts, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would raise taxes on middle-class families while giving tax cuts to corporations and the wealthiest Americans. While some working Americans could see some minor tax relief in 2018, by 2027 more than half of the law's benefits would go to the richest one percent of Americans."
Senate Weighs Tax Changes, May Vote Today
Senate weighs changes to tax bill on the same day they could vote. NYT: "The Senate will convene at 10 a.m. Friday to continue the debate on taxes, ahead of a possible final vote later in the day... Their effort appeared to be gaining momentum on Thursday, with talk of a final vote later that night or early Friday. But by the end of the day, they were contending with twin setbacks, both involving how the bill would affect federal budget deficits. The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation said in an analysis released on Thursday afternoon that the legislation would add $1 trillion to federal budget deficits over a decade, even after accounting for economic growth. In addition, a provision meant to prevent ballooning deficits ran into parliamentary problems. The provision would have increased taxes if economic growth fell short of expectations, but it was deemed by the Senate parliamentarian to run afoul of budget rules that must be followed if the bill is to be shielded from a Democratic filibuster."
Senate Tax Bill Crowns GOP Sellout Of Middle Class
Apparently Republicans want to kick the middle class in the face. WaPo: "It’s not enough to give money to rich people. Apparently, Republicans want to kick the poor and middle class in the face, too. I used to think the Republican Party’s obsession with top-heavy tax cuts was about pleasing wealthy donors and maybe also fulfilling some misguided Randian fantasy. If the poor and middle class happened to be collateral damage, so be it. But it’s starting to look like shafting the little guy has become a feature, not a bug, of the GOP’s budget-busting tax plan... They’re offsetting their tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy by hiking them further down the income distribution. No wonder this bill is less popular than any major change in federal tax policy since at least 1981. But wait, it gets worse. Higher taxes aren’t the only way in which Republicans plan to punish the poor and middle class. They also plan to gut the government services these populations depend on. This tax bill is merely a prelude to, or perhaps an excuse for, shredding the social safety net."
Senate Parliamentarian, CBO Warn Deficit Looms In Tax Plan
Senate Parliamentarian throws sand into the gears of the GOP tax-cut machine. New York Magazine: "Just as the Senate was strolling through the complex Senate steeplechase to enactment of the bill, something bad happened off-camera with respect to a deficit trigger provision sacred to a handful of Republican deficit hawks. The idea, accepted by the GOP leadership, was to provide for a tax increase that would kick in if the tax bill produced terrible budget-deficit outcomes. Unfortunately for Republicans, Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that the trigger provision did not pass muster under the budget rules governing the bill. Knowing this, trigger supporters Jeff Flake and Bob Corker — backed, Republicans feared, by one or more other colleagues — delayed a Senate vote on a motion-to-recommit by Democrats that might have killed the bill... All sorts of negotiations are certainly underway to get the tax bill out of the ditch, but it’s clear the GOP’s decision to move this tax bill via the special procedures of the budget process is proving to be problematic. In normal legislation (yes, the kind that requires bipartisan support), Elizabeth MacDonough’s opinion would be irrelevant. Now she’s causing all sorts of pinball reactions that could mess up this tax bill."
End To ACA Mandate Guts Requirement To Provide Care
Without Obamacare mandate, ‘you open the floodgates’ for skimpy health plans. NYT: "The drive by Senate Republicans to repeal the requirement that most Americans have health insurance is not only likely to discourage people from signing up for coverage during the current enrollment period, but also could result in higher premiums. If repeal is approved, people could opt out of buying policies because they would no longer face a tax penalty and millions could go uninsured. With the Affordable Care Act already weakened by the Trump administration, big drops in enrollment would deal yet another body blow to the law and wreak more havoc in the individual insurance market. Many consumers would likely to turn to the cheap, short-term policies that already skirt provisions of the law and may not cover pre-existing conditions or basic medical needs."
Trump Brags Government Shutdown Would Benefit Hard-Line Agenda
Trump tells confidants that a government shutdown might be good for him. WaPo: "President Trump has told confidants that a government shutdown could be good for him politically and is focusing on his hard-line immigration stance as a way to win back supporters unhappy with his outreach to Democrats this fall, according to people who have spoken with him recently. Over the past 10 days, the president has also told advisers that it is important that he is seen as tough on immigration and getting money for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to two people who have spoken with him. He has asked friends about how a shutdown would affect him politically and has told several people he would put the blame on Democrats. Trump’s mixed messages on a partial government shutdown could hamper the ability of congressional Republicans to negotiate with Democrats, whose support they need to pass spending legislation in coming weeks."
