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For Immediate Release
November, 16 2017, 01:00pm EDT
Contact:
Email:,press@credoaction.com
#TrumpTaxScam: CREDO Statement On House Vote
CREDO released the following statement in response to the House of Republicans voting to pass the Trump tax scam:
"There they go again. Paul Ryan and House Republicans just proved yet again that they care more about big corporations and their wealthy campaign donors than their own constituents," CREDO Political Director Murshed Zaheed said. "But the fight now turns to the Senate, where the Trump tax scam has always faced much tougher odds," he said.
WASHINGTON
CREDO released the following statement in response to the House of Republicans voting to pass the Trump tax scam:
"There they go again. Paul Ryan and House Republicans just proved yet again that they care more about big corporations and their wealthy campaign donors than their own constituents," CREDO Political Director Murshed Zaheed said. "But the fight now turns to the Senate, where the Trump tax scam has always faced much tougher odds," he said.
"It is no surprise that Trump's lapdogs in the Senate want to use the Trump tax scam to try to gut health care for millions of Americans, but the grassroots resistance they're about to experience will be just as intense as the tidal wave of opposition that repeatedly stopped the zombie Trumpcare bill," Zaheed continued, adding, "if the Senate manages to pass the Trump tax scam despite massive public opposition, we suspect many Senators will come to regret it next year."
CREDO is working to expose and stop the Trump tax scam through viral videos that have been viewed tens of millions of times, tens of thousands of phone calls to congressional offices and hundreds of thousands of petition signatures. A full summary of our work to date to stop the Trump tax scam can be found below.
CREDO Action, part of CREDO Mobile, is a social change network of over five million activists, sending tens of millions of petition signatures and hundreds of thousands of phone calls to decision-makers each year. CREDO Action members also participate in meetings, protests and other direct action for progressive change.
VIRAL VIDEOS EXPOSING TRUMP TAX SCAM REACH OVER 48 MILLION PEOPLE: CREDO'S videos featuring members of Congress speaking out against the Trump Tax Scam have reached over 48 million people, accumulated more than 25 million views and been shared more than 500,000 times on Facebook. Highlights include:
- Rep. Suzan DelBene breaking down the House bill's preferential treatment of corporations over American citizens.
- Rep. John Larson's epic remarks opposing the House bill's assault on his constituents and Republicans' efforts to jam the bill through Congress without meaningful debate.
- Four Democratic congresswomen speaking out about the harm the House bill would cause to their constituents.
- Rep. Judy Chu exposing the House bill's sneak attack on abortion rights.
15,000+ CALLS TO CONGRESS AGAINST THE TRUMP TAX SCAM: CREDO Members have already made more than 15,000 calls to Congress in opposition to the Trump tax scam, including more than 5,000 calls to Senate Democrats who have met recently with Trump administration officials and more than 8,000 calls to vulnerable House Republicans in California.
FUNDING THE RESISTANCE TO THE TRUMP TAX SCAM: So far in 2017, CREDO has given more than $344,000 to organizations fully committed to resisting the Trump Tax Scam, including American For Tax Fairness, Social Security Works and DEMOS, through its monthly donations program. The Economic Policy Institute has been selected as one of three organizations to receive funding in November. Since 1985, CREDO has given more than $13 million to organizations fighting for economic justice.
200,000+ PETITION CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS: NO TAX HANDOUTS FOR SUPER RICH AND BIG CORPORATIONS: More than 200,000 people have signed CREDO's petition demanding that congressional Republicans oppose legislation to give more tax handouts to millionaires, billionaires, Wall Street and big corporations.
175,000+ SIGN PETITION TO CONGRESS: NO TAX LEGISLATION WITHOUT PARADISE PAPERS INVESTIGATION: The petition, which was launched on Nov. 7, reads: "Do not pass any tax-related legislation without first completing a full and public investigation into the offshore tax-dodging schemes revealed by the Paradise Papers, including financial ties between Trump Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and a Russian energy company linked to Vladimir Putin."
210,000+ PETITION CONGRESS: NO TAX LEGISLATION UNTIL TRUMP RELEASES ALL TAX RETURNS: The petition argues that Congress should not "consider changing the tax code while Trump hides potential conflicts of interest from legislators and the public."
CREDO Action, part of CREDO Mobile, is a social change network of over five million activists, sending tens of millions of petition signatures and hundreds of thousands of phone calls to decision-makers each year. CREDO Action members also participate in meetings, protests and other direct action for progressive change.
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As Biden and Trump Teams Attack ICC, Tlaib Says Netanyahu 'Must Be Arrested'
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The lone Palestinian American in the U.S. Congress said Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "must be arrested" in compliance with warrants issued by judges on the International Criminal Court, a response that contrasted sharply with that of the Biden administration and allies of President-elect Donald Trump.
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), one of Congress' most outspoken opponents of Israel's war on Gaza, said in a statement that the ICC warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant were "long overdue" given the gravity of the accusations against them.
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The ICC also approved an arrest warrant for Hamas military leader Muhammad Deif, whom Israel claims to have killed in an airstrike in southern Gaza last month.
Tlaib said Thursday that the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant represent a signal that "the days of the Israeli apartheid government operating with impunity are ending" and condemned the Biden administration's continued military and diplomatic support for Israel's catastrophic assault on the Gaza Strip, where most of the population is now displaced and at growing risk of starvation and disease.
The Democratic congresswoman said the "historic arrest warrants cannot bring back the dead and displaced, but they are a major step towards holding war criminals accountable."
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Tlaib was among a number of progressive U.S. lawmakers who backed the ICC's decision as the Biden White House, Republican and Democratic lawmakers, and likely members of the incoming Trump administration lashed out at the court and threatened retaliation—underscoring the country's outlier status as its allies affirmed their support for the ICC and said they would abide by its warrants.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), deputy chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Thursday that the ICC's decision represents "an important step to hold these war criminals accountable for their grave crimes against humanity and war crimes."
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In his statement Thursday, Sanders said that "Netanyahu, Gallant, and Deif have all launched indiscriminate attacks against civilians, and all three have caused unimaginable suffering within the civilian population."
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Trump's selection of Bondi to lead the Justice Department prompted renewed scrutiny of her record as Florida's top prosecutor, particularly her favorable treatment of big banks and other firms implicated in the foreclosure crisis.
The American Prospect's David Dayen, the author of an acclaimed book on Wall Street foreclosure fraud, noted Friday that Bondi's victory in Florida's 2010 attorney general election was aided in part by donations from Lender Processing Services and other firms that were facing investigations launched by the office of Bondi's predecessor.
In 2011, Dayen recounted, Bondi fired two attorneys in Florida's Economic Crimes division, June Clarkson and Theresa Edwards, after freezing them out of a national probe of foreclosure fraud despite their extensive knowledge of the issue.
"There's a lot out there about Bondi, including her soliciting a $25,000 contribution from Trump and subsequently scotching an investigation into his fake university, while lying about how many complaints from former students at the university she received," Dayen wrote. "She also became a lobbyist with Trump-whisperer Brian Ballard after her stint as attorney general of Florida ended, seeking sweetheart treatment for clients like Amazon, GM, and Uber."
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"They didn't like that reporters found out that the state's ban killed two women."
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In a November 8 letter obtained by ProPublica, Georgia Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey wrote that an "investigation was unable to uncover which individual(s) disclosed confidential information" despite state law and confidential agreements signed by panel members barring such disclosures.
Toomey explained that the committee was immediately "disbanded," a replacement panel will be formed through a new application process, and additional procedures are under consideration regarding confidentiality, oversight, and organizational structure.
ProPublica reported that the office of Republican Gov. Brian Kemp—who appointed Toomey—declined to comment and referred questions to the health department, whose spokesperson also declined to comment, saying that the letter, "speaks for itself."
As the outlet detailed:
Reproductive rights advocates say Georgia's decision to dismiss and restructure its committee also could have a chilling effect on the committee's work, potentially dissuading its members from delving as deeply as they have into the circumstances of pregnant women's deaths if it could be politically sensitive.
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