Six Ways the Trump Tax Scam is Just Like TrumpCare
The only reason why we defeated TrumpCare was because of constituent power. Hundreds of thousands of people took to town halls, held die-ins, sit-ins in congressional offices, and demanded that their Members of Congress do the right thing. Your resistance is what really stopped TrumpCare.
But the truth is that the Trump Tax Scam is shaping up to look a whole lot like its health care predecessor. Here’s how we know we can defeat the Trump Tax Scam, too.
1. It’s all about tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations
TrumpCare would have eliminated taxes on high-income earners, giving a massive tax break to the wealthiest individuals in the country. Now, Republicans are turning to the tax code for cuts that benefit the wealthy. The American people didn’t support huge tax cuts when they were in the TrumpCare bill. We can’t support them in the Tax Scam bill either.
2. The tax giveaways are paid for by slashing Medicaid
TrumpCare would have destroyed Medicaid as we know it. But even after the failure of TrumpCare, Republicans have said they won’t stop coming for Medicaid. First, they tried to slash it through TrumpCare, now they’ll try to slash it through the Trump Tax Scam. They have to pay for their massive tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations, and their budget blueprint does that by cutting Medicaid by roughly $1 trillion over 10 years—that’s about 20% of Medicaid’s total funding—together with other important domestic programs.
3. They’re using the same partisan reconciliation process
Republicans again want to use the special process in the Senate, called “reconciliation,” to jam their Trump Tax Scam through with only 51 votes (so, no Democrats). They already passed a budget resolution, which unlocked the reconciliation process. In the end, using reconciliation didn’t work for TrumpCare, but they’re hoping holdouts like Senators Collins, Murkowski, and McCain will be too tired or too tempted by tax cuts for their rich friends to stand in opposition again. That’s why we must hold every member accountable early and often.
4. Expect the same constant shell game
As with TrumpCare, Republicans have inconsistent and conflicting policy goals on tax. Instead of taking their time and making transparent policy choices through a deliberate process of committee hearings and markups, Republicans will just slap something together in secret and call it “tax reform.” They have already started down this road by releasing partial details instead of a complete proposal, leaving important details that affect the middle class up in the air. Now, they want to write, mark-up, and pass their tax scam bill in less than a month. The first draft of the bill will be released on November 1, and Republican leadership is saying they want to have a bill on Trump’s desk by Thanksgiving.
When the clock was running low on TrumpCare, Republicans had no idea what they were voting for. A number of Republicans didn’t even like the finished product, said they hoped it wouldn’t become law, and then voted for it anyway. The lack of clarity over what will be included in the Tax Scam will likely be the same as it was for TrumpCare. By creating confusion and, keeping their plan secret, and speeding through the process to try to prevent people from knowing what’s happening, Republicans can deflect criticism by saying things like “well that’s not the final version,” or “we’re going to fix that,” or “that’s not in the bill anymore.” CBO scores will likely come too late for members to study or understand them. This strategy nearly worked for TrumpCare, and despite calls for more transparency, this is the new McConnell model for moving big legislation through the Senate.
5. Giving tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations is just as unpopular as TrumpCare
Americans really didn’t like TrumpCare, which polled as low as 16% favorable at some points. The ideas at the core of the Trump Tax Scam—giving massive tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations paid for by taking away Medicaid, Medicare, and other basic services—are just as unpopular. 67% of Americans think corporations pay too little in taxes, yet the Trump Tax Scam lowers the corporate tax rate. 84% of Americans favor raising taxes on the mega rich, but the Trump Tax Scam gives the rich massive tax breaks. TrumpCare was not what the American people were asking for, and neither is this Trump Tax Scam.
6. Just like TrumpCare, the Tax Scam will require your voice to defeat
Despite what a disaster TrumpCare would have been for the American people, Republicans came within one vote in the Senate of passing it. It was defeated because of your massive constituent power. Even Senators who ultimately supported the last version of TrumpCare played a role in its defeat by opposing iterations of the bill that came before it. Forty-five Democratic senators have already committed to reject a tax bill that provides tax cuts to the wealthy. We need to hold them to that commitment and shore up the other three (Senators Manchin, Donnelly, and Heitkamp). We saw an outpouring of loud and constant opposition from every corner of the country—and we’re going to need that again in order to defeat the Trump Tax Scam. You can use our new field guide to hold events at your MoCs office - make sure they know that you want them to stand with you, instead of corporations and the ultra-wealthy.