November, 21 2017, 10:00am EDT

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Chris Fleming,Email:,chris@redhorsestrategies.com
13 Terrible Things About the Senate Republican Tax Plan
WASHINGTON
A new report out today details thirteen terrible things about the most recent Republican tax overhaul proposal in the U.S. Senate:
- Gives most of the tax cuts to the richest 1%. The share of tax cuts going to the richest 1% is 62% in 2027, up from 18% in 2019. Their tax cut will be $33,000 in 2027, on average. [Tax Policy Center (TPC)]
- Gives 53% of the tax cutsto corporations and businesses. These tax cuts mostly benefit the wealthy. [Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT)]
- Makes 82 million middle-class families pay more in taxes. Half of all households--94 million--would pay more in taxes in 10 years. Of those, 82 million are of low- or middle-income. Two-thirds of families earning $55,000 to $93,000 will see a tax increase. [TPC]
- Pays for corporate tax cuts by taking healthcare away from working families and seniors.
*To raise revenue to pay for permanent corporate tax cuts, the plan repeals the requirement under the Affordable Care Act for individuals to have health coverage. This will lead to 13 million more people being uninsured and cause a 10% increase in health insurance premiums. [Congressional Budget Office (CBO)]
*The corporate tax rate is slashed from 35% to 20%, losing $1.3 trillion over 10 years That's almost the $1.5 trillion cut the Republican budget proposes for Medicare ($473 billion) and Medicaid ($1 trillion). [JCT, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP)]
*The tax bill would trigger immediate Medicare cuts of at least $25 billion a year, and more than $100 billion in other cuts to agriculture subsidies, student loans, military retirement and more, because it adds $1.4 trillion to the debt. [(CBO)]
- Makes corporate tax cuts permanent, but makes tax cuts for individuals and families temporary. All the tax cuts that benefit the middle-class will expire after 2025, while the corporate tax cuts are permanent. The plan makes permanent changes to the way tax brackets are adjusted for inflation, resulting in a growing tax increase over time. [CBPP]
- Adds $1.4 trillion to the national debt jeopardizing critical services. The plan includes at least $1.4 trillion in tax cuts--and possibly as much as $1.9 trillion--that are not paid for by closing loopholes used by the wealthy and corporations. This will balloon the deficit and further endanger funding for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, public education and more. [CBPP]
- Puts wealthy business owners over seniors. Wealthy business owners and investors--including real estate developers like Donald Trump--get a $225 billion tax cut from the effective drop in the top tax rate for "pass-through" business income from 39.6% to 32%, along with other tax changes on pass-through income. (Pass-throughs include partnerships, S corporations and sole proprietorships, and their owners pay taxes at the individual rate.) By comparison, the Republican budget cuts Medicare by $473 billion. [JCT, TPC and CBPP]
- Kills American jobs by encouraging outsourcing and profit shifting. The plan creates a territorial tax system, which exempts foreign profits from U.S. taxes. While the plan will tax some of those offshore profits, the effective tax rate will be far below the U.S. rate. U.S. multinationals will have even more tax incentives to outsource more jobs and shift more profits offshore.
- Hands a $565 billion tax cut to offshore tax dodgers. American corporations have $2.6 trillion in profits stashed offshore on which they owe $750 billion in U.S. taxes. Rather than make them pay what they owe, like all the rest of us do, the tax plan will charge them only $185 billion--over a half-trillion-dollar discount. [Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and JCT]
- Repeals the federal deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) hurting the middle class.One-third of taxpayers making $50-75,000 take this deduction for state and local income and property taxes, as do half of those making $75-100,000. Eliminating SALT will put pressure on state and local budgets, likely forcing cuts to education, health care, and infrastructure. [Government Finance Officers Assoc. and CBPP]
- Helps Donald Trump pay much less in taxes. The plan repeals the alternative minimum tax (AMT), losing $770 billion. Without the AMT, Trump would have paid just a 4% tax rate on $153 million in income one year. But thanks to the AMT, he paid $38 million for a tax rate of 25%. [JCT and New York Times]
- Lets many wealthy heirs avoid paying the estate tax. The estate tax is substantially weakened, losing $83 billion and allowing more rich families to inherit wealth tax-free. The tax now only applies to estates worth over $5.5 million per person--about 5,500 estates. Under the bill, only estates worth at least $11 million per person (about 1,800 estates) would pay the tax. [JCT, TPC, CBPP]
- Breaks Trump's promise to close the "carried interest" loophole benefitting Wall Street. Remember when candidate Trump promised to get rid of this loophole that primarily benefits private equity fund managers? The Senate plan keeps it in place. [New York Times]
Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) is a diverse campaign of more than 420 national, state and local endorsing organizations united in support of a fair tax system that works for all Americans. It has come together based on the belief that the country needs comprehensive, progressive tax reform that results in greater revenue to meet our growing needs. This requires big corporations and the wealthy to pay their fair share in taxes, not to live by their own set of rules.
(202) 506-3264LATEST NEWS
Unions Cheer After Judge Halts Trump Order on Federal Workers' Collective Bargaining Rights
"Today's court order is a victory for federal employees, their union rights, and the American people they serve," said the head of the National Treasury Employees Union.
Apr 25, 2025
Labor unions representing federal workers celebrated on Friday after a U.S. district judge blocked President Donald Trump's March executive order intended to strip the collective bargaining rights from hundreds of thousands of government employees.
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) swiftly took action over what union national president Doreen Greenwald called "an attempt to silence the voices of our nation's public servants," filing a lawsuit in in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia.
Judge Paul Friedman, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, granted a preliminary injunction on Friday, blocking implementation of the executive order (EO), which aimed to restrict workers' rights under the guise of protecting national security.
CNNreported that during a Wednesday hearing, Friedman questioned "Trump's motive in issuing the order" and "the administration's contention that certain agencies have national security as their primary function, citing the National Institutes of Health, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Department of Agriculture."
Also reporting on the hearing earlier this week, Politicodetailed:
Attorneys representing the NTEU mentioned that the Trump administration, after issuing the EO, immediately sued an NTEU-affiliate union in Kentucky and Texas—federal districts dominated by Republican appointees.
Shortly after Friedman's hearing Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves, who is hearing the government's case in Kentucky, denied a request from a local NTEU chapter to postpone oral arguments that are scheduled for Friday. Reeves is an appointee of President George W. Bush. A decision in those cases could affect the NTEU's lawsuit before Friedman.
Still, the NTEU welcomed Freidman's Friday decision to halt what it called an "anti-union, anti-federal employee executive order" while also preparing for the Trump administration to "quickly appeal."
"Today's court order is a victory for federal employees, their union rights, and the American people they serve," said Greenwald. "The preliminary injunction granted at NTEU's request means the collective bargaining rights of federal employees will remain intact and the administration's illegal agenda to sideline the voices of federal employees and dismantle unions is blocked."
"NTEU will continue to use every tool available to protect federal employees and the valuable services they provide from these hostile attacks on their jobs, their agencies, and their legally protected rights to organize," she pledged.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the nation's largest federal workers union, also applauded Friday's news.
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U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders led congressional progressives on Friday in condemning the Trump administration's arrest of a county judge in Wisconsin for allegedly helping an undocumented man evade capture by federal immigration agents.
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"It is time for my colleagues in the Republican Party who believe in the Constitution to stand up to his growing authoritarianism," Sanders added.
Other progressive lawmakers also condemned Dugan's arrest, with Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) calling this "a red alert moment" that we "all must rise against."
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) said on the social media site X: "Judge Dugan's arrest is outrageous and a fear tactic to our independent judiciary. Trump has always thought he was above the law, but now he's enabling his goons to push that limit as far as it can go. His reckless deportations and flaunting of the Constitution will fail."
Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.)
said on social media that "arresting judges is the kind of crackdown you see in a police state."
"This is how dictators take power," Lee warned. "They manufacture crises, undermine our institutions, and erode our checks and balances. If they'll come for one, they'll come for all."
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) said that "Trump's playbook is simple: punish anyone who stands in his way."
"This ain't law and order—it's a rise of authoritarianism in real time," she added.
The FBI arrested a Wisconsin judge who stood up for due process for immigrants. This is unprecedented. All of us need to stand up and speak out against arresting judges in this country. We are living in dangerous times.
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— Rep. Ro Khanna ( @khanna.house.gov) April 25, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Accusing the Trump administration of a "shocking" willingness to "weaponize federal law enforcement," Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) contended that the FBI "coming into a community and arresting a judge is a serious matter" that would require a "high legal bar."
Moore added, "I am very alarmed at this increasingly lawless action of the Trump administration," including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has "been defying courts and acting with disregard for the Constitution."
Advocacy groups including Voces de la Frontera, Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR), and Milwaukee Turners led a Friday afternoon protest against Dugan's arrest outside the Milwaukee County Courthouse.
HAPPENING NOW: A HUGE crowd of protesters have gathered outside a Milwaukee courthouse to support Judge Hannah Dugan after her arrest earlier today
[image or embed]
— Marco Foster ( @marcofoster.bsky.social) April 25, 2025 at 1:46 PM
"To refer to this heinous attack as alarming would be an understatement," MAARPR said in a statement accusing FBI Director Kash Patel of "intentionally being public with his announcement and accusations" and "seeking to bypass Dugan's due process and label her as a criminal before she even has an opportunity to speak up."
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MAARPR continued:
During this period of racist and political repression, we must stand together to denounce today's actions by the FBI. What happened to Dugan is not new. The FBI and other agencies have been emboldened in recent months, snatching people off the streets, separating families, terrorizing communities, breaking doors down of pro-Palestine activists, and contributing to the unjust deportation of immigrants who don't have criminal records. What is new is that they have gone after a judge.
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Bob Peterson, a senior research fellow for strategic deterrence at the right-wing think tank the Heritage Foundation, applauded the move. Peterson shared Reuters' reporting and wrote on Friday: "This is an important start to building Golden Dome. I sincerely hope this passes so that missile defense will protect all Americans from our adversaries."
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