***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
Progressive Congress Action Fund Blasts Passage of “Unconscionable” GOP Tax Scam
December 20, 2017
Press Contact: Olivia Alperstein
olivia@progressivecongress.org
(609) 206-7920
Washington, D.C.— On December 20, after final votes in the House and the Senate, Congress passed the Republican tax bill, more accurately known as the GOP Tax Scam, ensuring that the wealthiest Americans and large corporations will receive giant tax cuts directly at the expense of working families and paid for with horrific cuts to vital programs and services for ordinary Americans.
In response to the passage of the GOP Tax Scam, Progressive Congress Action Fund, an organization dedicated to building inside-outside connections between working families, grassroots leaders, and progressive Members of Congress, released the following statement:
Statement from Progressive Congress Action Fund:
“This unconscionable GOP Tax Scam is the least popular piece of legislation in recent memory, and the fact that the Republicans consider this blatant attack on working families a political victory speaks volumes about their misguided, poisonous priorities. This tax bill raises taxes for over half of American families, hurting the working class and low-income families the hardest while ensuring even bigger tax cuts for millionaires, billionaires and corporations. This cynical, sweeping legislation undermines access to life-saving affordable healthcare for millions, gives corporations incentives to send jobs overseas, enables destruction of the environment, opens the door to massive cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and much more. This train wreck legislation, rammed through Congress, will derail the finances of working families for years to come. Republicans clearly favor their rich campaign donors over the needs of ordinary people. History will remember how Members of Congress voted, and how much ordinary Americans paid the price.
“Real tax reform is possible. The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), the largest ideological caucus in Congress, has outlined a set of bold progressive priorities for tax reform, based on sound policymaking and demonstrating a clear path to invest in better economic opportunities for ordinary working families. In their statement on the passage of the GOP Tax Scam, CPC Co-Chairs Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) and Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) stated, ‘Today will be remembered as the day Republicans voted in favor of taking money and resources away from working families and vulnerable populations in order to pad the pockets of their wealthy campaign donors. This is perhaps one of the largest redistributions of wealth ever from the lower and middle class to the upper echelon.’
Read the full statement online at: https://cpc-grijalva.house.gov/press-releases/cpc-slams-gop-tax-scam-passage.”
Statement from Dr. Gabriela Lemus, President of Progressive Congress Action Fund:
“The passage of the GOP Tax Scam is a boon for corporations and the top one percent, harming millions of working families, especially low-income families, in the long-term. The cuts to healthcare, the provisions to drill in the Arctic and the likely cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid demonstrate a callous approach to government priorities and spending. Republicans are sending a clear message that everyday people in this country matter less to them than the donors and lobbyists who spent hundreds of millions of dollars to see this bill passed. The GOP is hoping to pull a fast one on ordinary Americans with a promise of job growth and a boost to the economy, but millions of Americans are not buying what they’re selling. The GOP Tax Scam will deepen extreme economic inequality in the United States, hitting ordinary American workers and their families the hardest while further lining the pockets of millionaires, billionaires and big corporations.”
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Progressive Congress Action Fund is a 501(c)4 inside-outside strategy organization that serves as the vital linkage between grassroots progressive activists and organizations and progressive champions in Congress. We help shape the progressive agenda by turning innovative, forward-thinking ideas into action and amplifying and strengthening progressive messages on and off Capitol Hill. www.progressivecongressactionfund.org.