SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Protesters in Denver, Colorado called on Sen. Cory Gardner to vote against the Republican tax plan. According to numerous analyses by nonpartisan groups, most of the long-term benefits of the proposal would go to the richest Americans. (Photo: @CardboardCoryCO/Twitter)
As Senate Vote Looms, Resistance Mobilizes to Defeat 'Pathetic, Disgraceful, Immoral' GOP Tax Plan
"How else can I describe the Republican tax plan?" asked Sen. Sanders. "It must be stopped."
Nov 28, 2017
Calling senators' offices and gathering at rallies nationwide, progressives mobilized Wednesday in order to defeat the Republican's Senate tax bill that could take place as early as Thursday.
As of Wednesday, no Republicans were committed to opposing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Steve Daines of Montana were thought be be "no" votes earlier in the week, but grassroots groups including Indivisible and MoveOn.org added them both to their lists of senators that progressives should urge to oppose the bill, as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sought to win over skeptical Republicans in negotiations.
The groups urged constituents to call other lawmakers who have expressed doubts, including Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), and John McCain (R-Ariz.). Following Indivisible's National Day of Action on Monday, the campaign gained traction on social media. Constituents with Democratic senators also got involved, urging voters in other states to call their senators.
Protesters also gathered outside their senators' offices to urge them to oppose the bill.
The protests took place as President Donald Trump, rallying his supporters in St. Charles, Missouri, called middle-class Americans "the beating heart of our tax plan" and repeated the demonstrable lie that he, as a wealthy business owner, would not benefit from the tax cuts contained in the proposal.
In fact, the Trumps are one of just 5,000 families in the country with enough assets to benefit from one of the plan's key features, the repeal of the estate tax. The lowering of the corporate tax rate from 35 to 20 percent would also benefit the president, and, as Common Dreams reported on Wednesday, the savings included in that permanent tax cut would largely go to companies' shareholders instead of job creation and higher wages--by several corporations' own admission.
Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced he would be heading to Kentucky, Ohio, and Pennsylvania this weekend to rally against the plan, arguing that the proposal, which is expected to raise the deficit by $1.4 trillion, is about more than just tax cuts.
In an email sent to his supporters on Monday, Sanders wrote, "Mark my words. If passed, the Republicans will then rediscover the 'deficit crisis,' and push aggressively for massive cuts in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education--higher education in particular--nutrition, affordable housing and more."
On the Senate floor and on his Twitter account, Sanders shared the three words he would use to describe the tax plan: "Pathetic, disgraceful, and immoral."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Calling senators' offices and gathering at rallies nationwide, progressives mobilized Wednesday in order to defeat the Republican's Senate tax bill that could take place as early as Thursday.
As of Wednesday, no Republicans were committed to opposing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Steve Daines of Montana were thought be be "no" votes earlier in the week, but grassroots groups including Indivisible and MoveOn.org added them both to their lists of senators that progressives should urge to oppose the bill, as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sought to win over skeptical Republicans in negotiations.
The groups urged constituents to call other lawmakers who have expressed doubts, including Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), and John McCain (R-Ariz.). Following Indivisible's National Day of Action on Monday, the campaign gained traction on social media. Constituents with Democratic senators also got involved, urging voters in other states to call their senators.
Protesters also gathered outside their senators' offices to urge them to oppose the bill.
The protests took place as President Donald Trump, rallying his supporters in St. Charles, Missouri, called middle-class Americans "the beating heart of our tax plan" and repeated the demonstrable lie that he, as a wealthy business owner, would not benefit from the tax cuts contained in the proposal.
In fact, the Trumps are one of just 5,000 families in the country with enough assets to benefit from one of the plan's key features, the repeal of the estate tax. The lowering of the corporate tax rate from 35 to 20 percent would also benefit the president, and, as Common Dreams reported on Wednesday, the savings included in that permanent tax cut would largely go to companies' shareholders instead of job creation and higher wages--by several corporations' own admission.
Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced he would be heading to Kentucky, Ohio, and Pennsylvania this weekend to rally against the plan, arguing that the proposal, which is expected to raise the deficit by $1.4 trillion, is about more than just tax cuts.
In an email sent to his supporters on Monday, Sanders wrote, "Mark my words. If passed, the Republicans will then rediscover the 'deficit crisis,' and push aggressively for massive cuts in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education--higher education in particular--nutrition, affordable housing and more."
On the Senate floor and on his Twitter account, Sanders shared the three words he would use to describe the tax plan: "Pathetic, disgraceful, and immoral."
Calling senators' offices and gathering at rallies nationwide, progressives mobilized Wednesday in order to defeat the Republican's Senate tax bill that could take place as early as Thursday.
As of Wednesday, no Republicans were committed to opposing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Steve Daines of Montana were thought be be "no" votes earlier in the week, but grassroots groups including Indivisible and MoveOn.org added them both to their lists of senators that progressives should urge to oppose the bill, as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sought to win over skeptical Republicans in negotiations.
The groups urged constituents to call other lawmakers who have expressed doubts, including Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), and John McCain (R-Ariz.). Following Indivisible's National Day of Action on Monday, the campaign gained traction on social media. Constituents with Democratic senators also got involved, urging voters in other states to call their senators.
Protesters also gathered outside their senators' offices to urge them to oppose the bill.
The protests took place as President Donald Trump, rallying his supporters in St. Charles, Missouri, called middle-class Americans "the beating heart of our tax plan" and repeated the demonstrable lie that he, as a wealthy business owner, would not benefit from the tax cuts contained in the proposal.
In fact, the Trumps are one of just 5,000 families in the country with enough assets to benefit from one of the plan's key features, the repeal of the estate tax. The lowering of the corporate tax rate from 35 to 20 percent would also benefit the president, and, as Common Dreams reported on Wednesday, the savings included in that permanent tax cut would largely go to companies' shareholders instead of job creation and higher wages--by several corporations' own admission.
Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced he would be heading to Kentucky, Ohio, and Pennsylvania this weekend to rally against the plan, arguing that the proposal, which is expected to raise the deficit by $1.4 trillion, is about more than just tax cuts.
In an email sent to his supporters on Monday, Sanders wrote, "Mark my words. If passed, the Republicans will then rediscover the 'deficit crisis,' and push aggressively for massive cuts in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education--higher education in particular--nutrition, affordable housing and more."
On the Senate floor and on his Twitter account, Sanders shared the three words he would use to describe the tax plan: "Pathetic, disgraceful, and immoral."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.