The massively unpopular House and Senate tax bills have now been referred to a conference committee to be “reconciled” and the result will need to be voted on again by each of the House and Senate. Because the Senate tax bill was drafted in secrecy by various lobbyists, without hearings, is it loaded with glitches.
Both the House and the Senate versions contain massive tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy while raising taxes for many middle class taxpayers and small businesses.
Both bills contain assaults on Americans’ healthcare with the Senate bill repealing the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and the House bill eliminating deductions for medical expenses.
Both bills generate huge deficits that are expected to result in dramatic spending cuts, which House Majority Leader Paul Ryan is already “promising” to offset with cuts to crucial programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
Provisions of both bills raise taxes for colleges, universities and students, by taxing endowments for the first time, eliminating the interest deduction on student loans and taxing tuition benefits of grad students as income.
The bills also eliminate deductions for state and local taxes (SALT) and would plunge home prices in blue states, which typically have higher taxes and provide higher services, setting off a cascade that could cause a nationwide recession.
GOP leadership is determined to pass a tax bill to satisfy donors, but given the numerous problems, conflicting interests among GOP legislators and the adverse impacts on their constituents, it is still possible we can defeat this terrible bill with sustained pressure.
Your action for today: Call your Members of Congress.
- Call Mike Turner at 202-225-6465
- Call Rob Portman at 202-224-3353
- Call Sherrod Brown at 202-224-2315
You can use any or all of these points:
This is [NAME] and I’m a constituent in [ZIP].
- I urge [Rep/Sen____] to vote no on any tax bill that:
- Gives massive cuts to corporations and the wealthy while millions of middle class families and small businesses have tax increases.
- Risks the lives of Americans by repealing the ACA individual mandate, raising premiums for everyone and causing millions to lose insurance.
- Risks the lives and health of Americans by creating huge deficits that lead to cuts in crucial programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
- Hurts education by eliminating the deductions for student loans and sharply increasing taxes on grad students and colleges.
- Please oppose any bill that curtails the ability to deduct state and local taxes, hurting home prices and resulting in a big disadvantage to taxpayers in our state.
- An estimated 1,400,000 Ohioans will see higher taxes under the GOP tax plan over the next 10 years. I will be watching this vote closely.
Thank you to The Loyal Opposition for today’s CTA!