Fight the Trump Tax Scam
Tax cuts are the GOP's religion, the glue, as a recent New York Times headline blared, "holding the fractured Republican Party together." It's why people like Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and even John McCain allowed Trump to enact a Muslim ban, install Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, and say, with a straight face, that there was "violence on both sides" in Charlottesville.
Instead of giving in to the temptation to break out the popcorn and pray for more Russia-related indictments from Robert Mueller, it's time to gear up for another big activism fight. As MoveOn.org's Ben Wikler told the Washington Post, "People will be in the streets if Mueller is fired... But public pressure isn’t going to change how Mueller conducts his investigation. It can affect whether Congress cuts taxes for the rich.”
As Indivisible explains, the plan will hurt anyone who isn't already wealthy:
"The Trump Tax Scam would give massive tax cuts to the wealthy. It’s designed that way: it lowers the tax rate for the wealthiest individuals and repeals certain taxes, like the estate tax and the alternative minimum tax. That only benefits the wealthy because those taxes only affect the wealthy... Just as bad, the Trump Tax Scam makes existing racial inequality even worse. The vast majority of the benefits of the Trump Tax Scam flow to the highest quintile of families—an income band that is 77% white but only 6% African American and 7% Latino."
An early version of the plan already cleared one legislative hurdle in the House, but Americans have until November 20 to fight back. After the plan is released in full on November 2, Indivisible is gearing up for a massive week of action the week of November 6-12, timed to coincide with the markup period in the House Ways and Means committee, the first time members of Congress will be able to provide feedback on and adjust the bill.
As they did with health care, Indivisible has created an online toolkit, TrumpTaxScam, with messaging, talking points and a searchable map of protests and other events around the country, open for anyone to join. Activists are aiming for a mix of tactics: protests at district offices, visits to Capitol Hill, and consistent calls to both the House and Senate through November 20, when the Senate votes on the bill. Also as with health care, it's essential for members of Congress in both parties to see that their constituents are paying attention, engaged, and ready to pressure them.
The tax cut is the GOP's best hope for a legislative victory in a presidency that's been unable to get anything done except by the bully pulpit of executive order. As the Times notes, "The prospect of a once-in-a-generation bill to cut taxes on businesses and individuals increasingly appears to be the best hope for a party anxious to find common ground and advance an effort that it has long championed as the pinnacle of Republican orthodoxy."
We have less than three weeks to take it away from them.
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