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"We're facing a powerful array of forces that includes big corporations, the Koch Brothers, and anti-tax think tanks," says Frank Clemente, co-founder and director of Americans for Tax Fairness. (Photo: Yuri Keegstra/flickr/cc)
The Coming Tax Fight -- and Why We Need You!
We've now reached show-down time, says the director of the coalition rallying Americans against the Trump tax cut giveaway to Corporate America.
Sep 03, 2017
Are you ready to resist? With Donald Trump's August 30 tax cut speech in Springfield, Missouri, the great tax fight of 2017 has now begun. The Trump tax cut plan, the President blustered in Missouri, will raise wages and benefit America's working people.
"This speech was an extraordinary effort to obfuscate, fabricate, and create an alternative reality," says Frank Clemente, co-founder and director of Americans for Tax Fairness. "Trump has a big sales job: to make a tax cut that will mostly benefit Trump and his fellow billionaires appealing to his regular base."
The Americans for Tax Fairness coalition, founded in 2012, now represents over 425 national and state organizations and serves as the key advocacy umbrella organization on progressive tax reform. The coalition has been preparing for this moment all year.
Clemente has essentially been preparing his whole life. From campaigns to expand health care and reform the campaign finance system to serving as issues director for the 1988 Presidential campaign of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Clemente has put in decades working for economic justice.
"I've been fighting corporate power in different ways all my life," he notes. "But I don't think we've gone up against a lobbying operation this size before."
"We're facing a powerful array of forces that includes big corporations, the Koch Brothers, and anti-tax think tanks," Clemente explains. "Low taxes and small government are at the heart and soul of entire GOP establishment agenda. They're going to put everything they have into this."
During the congressional battle earlier this year over health care, most big corporations and the very wealthy sat on the sidelines. They aren't sitting now.
"The big industry groups -- oil, big pharma, high tech -- they spend more money to lobby on tax policy than on anything else," says Clemente. "They'll be all in on this fight."
Can we can stop the worst aspects of this latest tax-cut money grab? Clemente thinks we can. He points to polls that show that only about 30 percent of the public strongly believes the trickle-down mythology that tax breaks for the rich and big corporations have a positive impact on the economy.
"The vast majority of Americans don't buy it," says Clemente. "They see how inequality has grown and that corporate profits are going through the roof. And Trump has completely undermined his personal credibility with most of the public."
The Republican coalition also stands divided.
"They don't agree over how to pay for these tax cuts," notes Clemente. "The deficit hawks don't believe tax cuts should add to the federal debt. The hard-liners want tax cuts, deficits be damned. And then there are a few sensible folks who worry about the impact on working families."
But even with these divisions, stopping tax-cut giveaways to the rich and the corporations they run will take all hands on deck.
"This will be harder to stop than the bad health care plan because the tradeoffs in health care were so direct, with 20 million people losing insurance," Clemente reflects. "But if you care about inequality, this is your fight. If you care about Social Security, education, nutrition, rebuilding roads and bridges, this is your fight. All these flow from tax revenue."
"If we lose this revenue now," he goes on, "we aren't going to be able to fund current levels of government nor will we be able to make investments over the next ten years to build an economy that works for everyone."
Politically speaking, in other words, we've reached showdown time.
"Tax cuts have become the crown jewel of their agenda," Clemente points out. "If we defeat the tax cuts, its all down hill for Trump and company."
American for Tax Fairness has created a campaign website for the coming tax fight. See StopTrumpTaxCuts.org and check out the Talking Points as part of preparing for back-fence conversations with neighbors and family.
ATF is also encouraging other grassroots strategies, including the "Not One Penny" movement. Founded by resistance efforts such as Indivisible and the Tax March, Not One Penny is a pledge against "tax cuts for millionaires, billionaires and wealthy corporations."
For more information on how to get involved, click to www.americansfortaxfairness.org.
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 |
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Chuck Collins
Chuck Collins is co-founder of CARP and author of Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power are Ruining Our Lives and Planet.
Are you ready to resist? With Donald Trump's August 30 tax cut speech in Springfield, Missouri, the great tax fight of 2017 has now begun. The Trump tax cut plan, the President blustered in Missouri, will raise wages and benefit America's working people.
"This speech was an extraordinary effort to obfuscate, fabricate, and create an alternative reality," says Frank Clemente, co-founder and director of Americans for Tax Fairness. "Trump has a big sales job: to make a tax cut that will mostly benefit Trump and his fellow billionaires appealing to his regular base."
The Americans for Tax Fairness coalition, founded in 2012, now represents over 425 national and state organizations and serves as the key advocacy umbrella organization on progressive tax reform. The coalition has been preparing for this moment all year.
Clemente has essentially been preparing his whole life. From campaigns to expand health care and reform the campaign finance system to serving as issues director for the 1988 Presidential campaign of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Clemente has put in decades working for economic justice.
"I've been fighting corporate power in different ways all my life," he notes. "But I don't think we've gone up against a lobbying operation this size before."
"We're facing a powerful array of forces that includes big corporations, the Koch Brothers, and anti-tax think tanks," Clemente explains. "Low taxes and small government are at the heart and soul of entire GOP establishment agenda. They're going to put everything they have into this."
During the congressional battle earlier this year over health care, most big corporations and the very wealthy sat on the sidelines. They aren't sitting now.
"The big industry groups -- oil, big pharma, high tech -- they spend more money to lobby on tax policy than on anything else," says Clemente. "They'll be all in on this fight."
Can we can stop the worst aspects of this latest tax-cut money grab? Clemente thinks we can. He points to polls that show that only about 30 percent of the public strongly believes the trickle-down mythology that tax breaks for the rich and big corporations have a positive impact on the economy.
"The vast majority of Americans don't buy it," says Clemente. "They see how inequality has grown and that corporate profits are going through the roof. And Trump has completely undermined his personal credibility with most of the public."
The Republican coalition also stands divided.
"They don't agree over how to pay for these tax cuts," notes Clemente. "The deficit hawks don't believe tax cuts should add to the federal debt. The hard-liners want tax cuts, deficits be damned. And then there are a few sensible folks who worry about the impact on working families."
But even with these divisions, stopping tax-cut giveaways to the rich and the corporations they run will take all hands on deck.
"This will be harder to stop than the bad health care plan because the tradeoffs in health care were so direct, with 20 million people losing insurance," Clemente reflects. "But if you care about inequality, this is your fight. If you care about Social Security, education, nutrition, rebuilding roads and bridges, this is your fight. All these flow from tax revenue."
"If we lose this revenue now," he goes on, "we aren't going to be able to fund current levels of government nor will we be able to make investments over the next ten years to build an economy that works for everyone."
Politically speaking, in other words, we've reached showdown time.
"Tax cuts have become the crown jewel of their agenda," Clemente points out. "If we defeat the tax cuts, its all down hill for Trump and company."
American for Tax Fairness has created a campaign website for the coming tax fight. See StopTrumpTaxCuts.org and check out the Talking Points as part of preparing for back-fence conversations with neighbors and family.
ATF is also encouraging other grassroots strategies, including the "Not One Penny" movement. Founded by resistance efforts such as Indivisible and the Tax March, Not One Penny is a pledge against "tax cuts for millionaires, billionaires and wealthy corporations."
For more information on how to get involved, click to www.americansfortaxfairness.org.
Chuck Collins
Chuck Collins is co-founder of CARP and author of Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power are Ruining Our Lives and Planet.
Are you ready to resist? With Donald Trump's August 30 tax cut speech in Springfield, Missouri, the great tax fight of 2017 has now begun. The Trump tax cut plan, the President blustered in Missouri, will raise wages and benefit America's working people.
"This speech was an extraordinary effort to obfuscate, fabricate, and create an alternative reality," says Frank Clemente, co-founder and director of Americans for Tax Fairness. "Trump has a big sales job: to make a tax cut that will mostly benefit Trump and his fellow billionaires appealing to his regular base."
The Americans for Tax Fairness coalition, founded in 2012, now represents over 425 national and state organizations and serves as the key advocacy umbrella organization on progressive tax reform. The coalition has been preparing for this moment all year.
Clemente has essentially been preparing his whole life. From campaigns to expand health care and reform the campaign finance system to serving as issues director for the 1988 Presidential campaign of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Clemente has put in decades working for economic justice.
"I've been fighting corporate power in different ways all my life," he notes. "But I don't think we've gone up against a lobbying operation this size before."
"We're facing a powerful array of forces that includes big corporations, the Koch Brothers, and anti-tax think tanks," Clemente explains. "Low taxes and small government are at the heart and soul of entire GOP establishment agenda. They're going to put everything they have into this."
During the congressional battle earlier this year over health care, most big corporations and the very wealthy sat on the sidelines. They aren't sitting now.
"The big industry groups -- oil, big pharma, high tech -- they spend more money to lobby on tax policy than on anything else," says Clemente. "They'll be all in on this fight."
Can we can stop the worst aspects of this latest tax-cut money grab? Clemente thinks we can. He points to polls that show that only about 30 percent of the public strongly believes the trickle-down mythology that tax breaks for the rich and big corporations have a positive impact on the economy.
"The vast majority of Americans don't buy it," says Clemente. "They see how inequality has grown and that corporate profits are going through the roof. And Trump has completely undermined his personal credibility with most of the public."
The Republican coalition also stands divided.
"They don't agree over how to pay for these tax cuts," notes Clemente. "The deficit hawks don't believe tax cuts should add to the federal debt. The hard-liners want tax cuts, deficits be damned. And then there are a few sensible folks who worry about the impact on working families."
But even with these divisions, stopping tax-cut giveaways to the rich and the corporations they run will take all hands on deck.
"This will be harder to stop than the bad health care plan because the tradeoffs in health care were so direct, with 20 million people losing insurance," Clemente reflects. "But if you care about inequality, this is your fight. If you care about Social Security, education, nutrition, rebuilding roads and bridges, this is your fight. All these flow from tax revenue."
"If we lose this revenue now," he goes on, "we aren't going to be able to fund current levels of government nor will we be able to make investments over the next ten years to build an economy that works for everyone."
Politically speaking, in other words, we've reached showdown time.
"Tax cuts have become the crown jewel of their agenda," Clemente points out. "If we defeat the tax cuts, its all down hill for Trump and company."
American for Tax Fairness has created a campaign website for the coming tax fight. See StopTrumpTaxCuts.org and check out the Talking Points as part of preparing for back-fence conversations with neighbors and family.
ATF is also encouraging other grassroots strategies, including the "Not One Penny" movement. Founded by resistance efforts such as Indivisible and the Tax March, Not One Penny is a pledge against "tax cuts for millionaires, billionaires and wealthy corporations."
For more information on how to get involved, click to www.americansfortaxfairness.org.
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