Category: Taxes

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Just Say NO!

Dear Indivisibles,

With less than two weeks left in the year (and just one week in the Congressional calendar), we have a lot of work to do. Then, we can take a break, rest, and gear up to take back the House and Senate in 2018!

Up first: keep the pressure on members of Congress to vote NO on the Trump Tax Scam. Late last week, Republicans announced their “conference report” of the tax bills was finalized (read our Conference Committee 101 if you need a refresher). After Doug Jones’ historic win, Republicans are rushing to a final vote on the Trump, before Senator-elect Doug Jones is seated (read our explainer on why this matters). The people of Alabama have spoken, and they rejected the Trump agenda. Their voices deserve to be heard, and that means no vote on the Trump Tax Scam before Doug Jones is in the Senate.

The House will likely vote tomorrow, with the Senate quickly behind. We’ll be honest: it seems like Republicans have all the votes they need lined up. But, as we saw in July with the healthcare fight, this isn’t over until all the votes are cast and the bill is on Trump’s desk.

As soon as the tax scam fight is over, both chambers will quickly turn their attention to passing another continuing resolution to keep the government funded (check out our explainer on what the heck this means). The government will shut down Saturday, December 23, at 12:00am if a continuing resolution is not passed. With the stakes so high, and 60 votes required in the Senate (that means 8 Democrats!), Democrats have real leverage.

In September, the Trump Administration upended the lives of 800,000 young immigrants when he ended Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, an Obama-era executive action that allowed them to apply for work permits and live without fear of deportation. Democrats must use this leverage to demand protections for Dreamers be included in the bill. And Republicans must know that you want action to protect Dreamers.

Here’s what we need to do this week to take action on both of these fights:

  • Demand your Senators become a Dream Hero. Read our call script and then start making phone calls. Let them know you want protections for immigrant youth included in the final version of the budget resolution.

Hold your members accountable. Never relent. Never forget. The tax bill would leave 13 million more people uninsured, raise taxes on 83 million families, and add $1.4 trillion to the deficit. And why? To give massive tax cuts to millionaires, corporations, and members of Congress themselves. And without a Dream Act, 800,000 immigrant youth will lose their work permits and face the threat of deportation.

Both of these fights will come down to the wire. That means we must stay loud and get mad.

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Tell your Republican MoC: #NoJonesNoVote
Indivisibles —

WOW.

We don’t know about you… but we woke up this morning feeling energized, renewed, and ready to go in to this final stretch of the tax fight! Last night’s victory proves that when we fight we win.

Yesterday, we got two new pieces of information that are shaping the landscape of this tax fight. In the morning, we heard that the conference committee will unveil their conference report (read our explainer on what that means) on Friday. And the Senate could vote as early as Monday, with the House close behind them.

Then, late last night Doug Jones won the Alabama special Senate election to fill Jeff Sessions’ seat. Doug Jones’ victory changes the game on the tax scam. Republicans are likely to rush the tax scam through before Jones is seated and do whatever they can to stall seating him.

In 2010, when Democrats were attempting to pass the Affordable Care Act and there was a vacant Senate seat in Massachusetts, Senators across the aisle agreed that there’d be no vote until Scott Brown was sworn in:

“I think the majority has gotten the message: no more gamesmanship here, no more lack of transparency, let’s honor the wishes of the people of Massachusetts and move forward with policy.” [Mitch McConnell, Politico, 1/20/2010]

“I’m not going to participate in any more health care votes until Sen. Scott Brown is sworn in.” [Jim Webb, former Democratic Senator from Virginia]

“Here’s one thing I know and I just want to make sure that this is off the table: The Senate certainly shouldn’t try to jam anything through until Scott Brown is seated.” [President Barack Obama, ABC News, 1/20/2010]

Tell Senator Toomey: #NoJonesNoVote. Refuse to cast a final vote on the tax scam “conference report” until Doug Jones is seated. Here’s what you can do:

We have a lot of leverage in this fight. Senators Susan Collins (ME) Jeff Flake (AZ) voted for the tax scam, but both have also said the bill wasn’t perfect. John McCain is concerned about regular order. Marco Rubio also wants a more generous Child Tax Credit for low-income families. There are also a number of differences between the two bills and the Republican caucus isn’t aligned yet. They’re running out of time to get everything done and we can stop them.

Amp up the pressure on these targets. Read our call scripts and make a call now!

In solidarity,
The Indivisible Team

PS — We can’t say it enough: we’re blown away by what this movement accomplished last night. Along with so many partners on the ground, they canvassed in Madison, Lee, and Mobile counties that flipped from Trump to Jones. And volunteers across the country sent 242,420 texts to Alabamians to get out the vote.
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Taxes: Fight!

Freinds, we were there in Reading this weekend and here is man and a movement who are fighting for us and for what is right. He has a plan and it is good for normal people like you and I. Please read and take action!

Friends of Bernie Sanders

I believe that historians will look back at the early morning hours of Dec. 2, 2017, and conclude that it was one of the great acts of thievery in the history of the United States.

Let me be very clear about what is happening here. It is an extraordinarily cynical “two-step” process. First, Republicans are looting the Treasury. They are stealing trillions of dollars from the American people in order to give huge tax breaks to billionaires and large corporations. Second, as their tax breaks increase the deficit by $1.4 trillion, they will come back and, in the name of “deficit reduction,” propose major cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education, nutrition, affordable housing and other programs desperately needed by the shrinking middle class.

This is class warfare, led by the Koch brothers and other wealthy Republican campaign contributors. More for the rich. Less for working families. Our job now is to stand up and fight back.

That is why last weekend I spoke to large crowds in Louisville, Kentucky, Dayton and Akron, Ohio, and Reading, Pennsylvania. Over 5,000 people took time out of their weekend to attend these high energy meetings in person and almost one million watched on-line. At these rallies activists heard not only from me, but from working people, DREAMers, nurses, Planned Parenthood patients and others about how this tax bill would negatively impact them, their kids, their parents and the future of our country.

Everyone made it absolutely clear that we need to keep fighting against this disastrous piece of legislation and not stop until we defeat it.

This legislation now goes to something called a “conference committee” where the House and Senate work out the differences between their respective bills. Then, the bill comes back for final passage. That means we probably have about three or four weeks to educate and organize the American people to defeat this dangerous bill. Please, get on the phone to your House and Senate members. Email them. Spread the word to your friends by social media. Talk to your co-workers. In the midst of massive income and wealth inequality, this country does not need more tax breaks for billionaires.

I will not stop until we defeat this disastrous piece of legislation. But I cannot do it alone:

Please sign my petition calling on the United States Congress to vote NO on the Republican tax reform legislation that gives obscene amounts of money to people and corporations who have so much, while laying the groundwork for massive cuts to programs that working families, the elderly, the children, the sick and the poor depend upon.

(A packed house in Akron, Ohio on Saturday Night.)

One point I made clear at each stop on this trip is that Donald Trump, Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell have a plan.

Mark my words. Once they pass this bill, they will claim we need to deal with the deficit by cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. You don’t have to take my word for it. Here is what the New York Times wrote this weekend:

“As the tax cut legislation passed by the Senate early Saturday hurtles toward final approval, Republicans are preparing to use the swelling deficits made worse by the package as a rationale to pursue their long-held vision: undoing the entitlements of the New Deal and Great Society, leaving government leaner and the safety net skimpier for millions of Americans.”

You might recall that during the campaign Donald Trump told the American people time and time again that he would not cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. Well, like so much else, it is clear he was lying.

Remember, this legislation has nothing to do with what the American people want. Poll after poll shows that ordinary Americans are strongly opposed to this giveaway to the rich. On the other hand, this “tax reform” has everything to do with what wealthy campaign contributors want. It has everything to do with a corrupt campaign finance system. This bill is nothing more payback time for those who finance the Republican Party.

Please sign my petition calling on the United States Congress to vote NO on the Republican tax reform legislation that gives obscene amounts of money to people and corporations who have so much, while cutting services and programs for working families.

(Capacity crowd in Reading, Pennsylvania on Sunday)

Make no mistake about it. The political momentum is with us. A few weeks ago, on Election Day, Nov. 7, 2017, Donald Trump’s name may not have been on the ballot, but Trumpism was. And it suffered a massive defeat. From coast to coast, in small towns and large cities, working people and young people, many of them first time candidates, ran for office – and won. Voter turnouts in many parts of the country were surprisingly high.

People are fighting back to reclaim their democracy. They are fighting for a government and economy that works for all of us, not just the 1 percent. And now we have got to continue that pressure. Our job in the next few weeks is to make our voices heard louder than ever. Yes. If we do that, we can stop this morally bankrupt bill.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders

ADD YOUR NAME

 Friends of Bernie Sanders

PO BOX 391, Burlington, VT 05402

 

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Taxes, and tax actions

Delaware County constituents of Representative Patrick Meehan hold

A Meehan Christmas Carol to oppose the GOP Tax Bill!

WHAT:   The Dickensian GOP tax bill/scam is scheduled to come to the House floor for a vote on Monday, December 4.  Please join us as we tell Congressman Meehan how badly this bill will impact his constituents.  In addition to chanting, we will sing carols (with lyrics that get our message across, of course).  Bring signs and dress as beggars or characters from A Christmas Carol including Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future and those zany kids Want and Ignorance.  We’ll assemble along Sproul Road keeping out of the parking lot and off the grass.  We’d be happy to get a Grinch or two, also!

WHEN:  December 3, 2017 – 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm

WHERE:  Rep. Patrick Meehan’s office

940 West Sproul Road, Springfield PA

WHO: Sponsored by Indivisibles Delco PA, Main Line South, PA District 7-Citizens for Equality Action Network, Upper Darby, and other activist groups from the area

WHY:  This may be our last chance to drive home the message to Meehan that we DO NOT WANT this tax scam that is a boon for the wealthy and corporations and a disaster for the rest of us!

Be informed — more on the tax bill:
The joint committee delivered its predictable verdict: Like all other reasonable studies, its review found that the Senate bill would do little for U.S. economic growth, while directly hurting tens of millions of middle-class Americans, blowing up the deficit, lavishing benefits on the wealthy and opening up new frontiers for tax avoidance.

READ MORE

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A Republican Tax Scam Advances

From the New Yorker Magazine:

A Republican Tax Scam Advances

By 7:59 A.M.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his G.O.P. colleagues have undertaken an almost comical effort to portray a huge giveaway to business as a boon to the toiling masses.

Photograph by Aaron P. Bernstein / Bloomberg via Getty

In a party-line vote on Tuesday afternoon, the Senate Budget Committee sent the Republican tax bill to the floor of the Senate, where it will be put to a vote sometime later this week or early next week. G.O.P. leaders seem confident that the bill will pass, and their confidence may be justified, although the outcome isn’t quite clear yet. If the Republican Party does pull this off, it will be another marker in the erosion of American governance.

Read More…
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14 days to stop the Trump Tax Scam

Dear Indivisibles,

Late last night, Senate Republicans snuck a repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate into the #TrumpTaxScam. Deep tax cuts to line the pockets of their billionaire donors at the expense of teachers weren’t enough. Now they want to leave 13 million people uninsured, too.

Yep. That’s right. The #TrumpTaxScam and the centerpiece of “skinny repeal” are now in one dangerous bill that’s on the fast-track to becoming law. (Ready to fight this thing? Visit TrumpTaxScam.org for everything you need to take action. Need more info? Keep reading!)

This whole process could be done as early as November 30. The House will likely pass their version of the bill tomorrow. Then, both chambers of Congress will be on recess until Monday, November 27. The Senate could vote on a motion to proceed (the pre-vote vote) on Monday and bring the bill to a full floor vote as early as Thursday, November 30. Once it passes the Senate, it’ll go back to the House where they’ll rubber stamp the Senate’s plans and move it onto the President’s desk.

Here are four things we need to do to stop the #TrumpTaxScam-skinny-repeal mess of a bill rolling through Congress:

  1. Make. a. phone call. NOW. Start calling your Senators immediately (we’ve set up a toll-free number 1-855-980-2350 to make it even easier for you to make a call!). They need to hear from you. Your voice will be the difference in this fight. We have Democratic call scripts and Republican call scripts to help guide your conversations with your Senators!
  2. Schedule a visit to your Senators’ in-district offices ASAP.It’s almost Thanksgiving, but many offices will be open the rest of this week, as well as next Monday and Tuesday. Use our organizing toolkit to plan a visit and then register your event here.
  3. Show up on 11/27 for our National Day of Action.Indivisible Group Leaders are planning sit-ins in Senator’s offices across the country right now. Sit-ins played a huge role in the TrumpCare fight and we can do it again. Mark your calendars and we’ll send you an email when an event in your area gets scheduled!
  4. Set up a weekly donation through the end of the year to support our organizing in the final stretch. Call tools. Organizing support. Resources. We’re pulling out all the stops to defeat this bill. Contribute $7 a week for the next 6 weeks to help support our campaign to defeat this #TrumpTaxScam-turned-skinny-repeal mess of a bill.

Just like with healthcare, our path to stopping this bill is through voicing tremendous constituent pressure, forcing Republicans to delay or slow their process. Each and every Senator needs to hear loud and clear from their constituents that you don’t want this bill.

Congressional Republicans are hoping that you will be too tired from the healthcare fight, too distracted by the holidays, and not too motivated by tax policy.

Let’s prove them wrong. Make a call. Schedule a visit to your Senators’ office before Thanksgiving. Show up on November 27 for a sit-in. Let’s stop this thing together.

In solidarity,
The Indivisible Team

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Taxes: Fight the Medicare and ACA cuts!

Logo
The reporting is in: Donald Trump & Paul Ryan’s tax bill is a scam to transfer a massive amount of wealth from the middle class into the pockets of the super-rich. It eliminates the estate tax, allowing Ivanka, Eric, and Don Jr. to pay no taxes when they inherit their father’s estate. It has enormous, permanent tax cuts for corporations. And to go along with it, they plan to increase taxes on the middle class, people with disabilities, and seniors with high medical costs.

And now, the Congressional Budget Office has determined that, if the Republicans don’t offset the lost revenue from their tax scam, it will trigger automatic Medicare cuts of $400 billion over the next decade.1

We need to stand together now, and make sure the world knows: A vote for the Trump/Ryan tax scam is a vote to cut Medicare by $400 billion.

Paul Ryan would like nothing more than automatic cuts to Medicare. And the tax scam gives him a vehicle for that. That’s why we need to fight them with everything we’ve got.

We call this a tax scam because it’s nothing more than Trumpcare in reverse. A massive handout to the 1% through the tax code, tens of millions of Americans losing access to health insurance, and massive cuts to Medicare.

They are rushing this bill through as quickly as possible, just like they tried to do with Trumpcare. We stopped them then and we can stop them again.

ADD YOUR NAME: A vote for the tax scam is a vote to slash Medicare.

This is our moment. We can beat them if we stand together. Thank you for fighting with us.

Michael Phelan
Social Security Works

1The Hill: GOP tax bill could spur $25 billion in Medicare cuts: CBO, The Hill
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Oppose the Tax Bill

HOW WE CAN STOP IT: NATIONAL WEEK OF ACTION NOVEMBER 6-12

We defeated TrumpCare with massive constituent power. Defeating the Trump Tax Scam will take the same level of effort, and the stakes are just as high

Every MoC needs to hear your demand that they vote no on the Trump Tax Scam. You should call your Republican Members of Congress now and and tell them: no tax cuts for the wealthy at the expense of everyone else. Call your Democratic Members of Congressand tell them: do everything you can to prevent tax cuts for the wealthy at the expense of everyone else.

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PA Public Education Money Grab

On both the State and Federal levels, there is no mistaking it. There is a well-funded movement to privatize education with a profit motive. Public Education dollars are the biggest pool of money in the country not in the hands of for-profit businesses.

Often the legislation is stealthily introduced, hoping to get their hands on our taxpayer money when we are looking the other way. PA has just such an attempt right now. Here is a call to action from the NPE. Please read this short message and call or e-mail your opposition to this bill.

 

Your calls and emails are needed immediately to stop this flawed scheme from being moved on a fast track.