'This Is Not a Tax Bill—This Is a Declaration of War': Nationwide Protests Erupt After GOP Tax Vote
"The CEOs in that building are going to be laughing all the way to the bank if this bill passes," said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to an outraged, energized crowd in front of the New York Stock Exchange Saturday. At 2:00 am that day, the GOP passed a massive tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, a $1.5 trillion wealth transfer from the poorest Americans to the wealthiest, and New Yorkers were enraged.
Hundreds of them stretched across the plaza in front of the Stock Exchange, in the heart of Wall Street, chanting "Kill the Bill" and "Tax the Rich Not the Poor," so loudly that even tourists attempting to take pictures of the George Washington statue in front of the Federal Reserve building were compelled to join.
They, too, listened raptly to everyone from elected officials like de Blasio, to Patrice Buffaloe, a social studies teacher from Staten Island, who discussed the pain teachers experience while reaching into their own pockets to pay for critical school supplies, to Kat Brezler, a fellow teacher running for state Senate who, holding back tears, described the wonder her students had when she took them to the theater, and instead of marveling at the stage and costumes, they couldn't stop talking about how the bathrooms had multiple rolls of toilet paper.
The crowd was further energized by Barbara Bowen, the president of the union for CUNY college professors who warned the crowd that, "Surely, they will try to break our democracy further, through voter disenfranchisement, gerrymandering, and an even bigger flood of money in an effort to hold on to power." "But," she continued, "we predict the people will rise up, throw these immoral scoundrels from power in a historic wave, and reverse their disastrous policies."
The protests weren't limited to New York.
At the Bangor, Maine, airport, where constituents once cheered for Senator Susan Collins when she voted no on repealing the Affordable Care Act, they now turned their backs, because, as they said in a statement, "Her vote was not a vote for Mainers but a tax cut for the rich.”
In Wisconsin, a group called the Overpass Light Brigade lit up a Madison overpass with the words "This is Tax Warfare."
Standing over traffic in Madison to demand an end to the GOP at-tax on the working class.#TAXSCAMBILL #classwarfare http://pic.twitter.com/CtDHGwAfW5
— OverpassLightBrigade (@OLBLightBrigade) December 3, 2017
In Kansas, Indivisible SEK visited the offices of Senator Jerry Moran to say "1.4 trillion dollars of debt will be left to our children and grandchildren. You have no shame, Senator."
1.4 trillion dollars of debt will be left to our children and grand children. You have no shame senator. @Indivisible_KC @Indivisible_LFK @RepLynnJenkins @JerryMoran @SenPatRoberts http://pic.twitter.com/SI5uHUtGJA
— SEK Resistance (@SEK_Resistance) December 2, 2017
Indivisible Southern Arizona led a whopping 43-hour vigil at Senator John McCain and Jeff Flake's offices, calling it "The Filibuster."
Democratic order was breached in the middle of the night. Today we weep for the perversion of our democracy. http://pic.twitter.com/nSJl45FlTA
— Indivisible S. AZ (@Indivisible_SAZ) December 3, 2017
In addition to local office visits, busloads of activists from around the country descended on the Capitol building Monday to voice their displeasure. They returned for another day of action on Tuesday, December, 5. Watch video from Monday's actions below:
Posted by Maryellen Novak on Monday, December 4, 2017
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