For the past 40 years, the financial and political elite of this country have rigged the tax code to redistribute wealth and income to some of the richest and most powerful people in this country. The result: we are moving rapidly toward an oligarchic form of society in which the top 1 percent is doing phenomenally well, the middle class continues to decline and 40 million Americans are living in poverty.
And it will probably not surprise you to learn that just as our tax
code benefits the wealthiest people in this country, it also benefits
some of the largest and most profitable corporations in the world with a
myriad of tax breaks, deductions, credits and other loopholes. As a
result, one out of five large profitable corporations today pays nothing
in federal taxes.
The current Republican “tax cut” bill, paid for by the Koch brothers
and other billionaire campaign contributors, continues the push to make
the rich richer at the expense of everyone else. It would raise taxes on
middle class families making $75,000 a year or less and would throw 13
million Americans off of health insurance. And it would do all of these
things to provide permanent tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans and
profitable corporations that ship American jobs to China while moving
their American profits to the Cayman Islands.
But let's be clear. This legislation goes well beyond taxes. Its
ultimate goal is to radically transform American society and the role
that government plays in the lives of the working families of our
country. This legislation will increase the deficit by at least $1.5
trillion over ten years. 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. They
will seek to undo every major piece of legislation passed in the last 80
years designed to help working families, the elderly, the children, the
sick and the poor.
This is the
Republican plan. Huge tax breaks for the rich and powerful. Massive cuts
to life and death programs for the middle class and working families of
our country.
This is not moral. This is not what the American people want.
This is not what our country and our pledge for "liberty and justice for
all" is supposed to be about.
That is why I am going on the road this week to talk directly
to working people in Kentucky, Ohio, and Pennsylvania about this
disastrous piece of legislation. If we stand together – black, white,
Latino, Asian American, Native American, male and female, young and old,
gay and straight – we can defeat this horrific bill. But I need you to
make your voice heard as well. We need to stand together.
Today in America, more than 40 million Americans, including 20 percent
of all children, live in poverty. Many in extreme poverty. Almost 28
million Americans have no health insurance. Millions of bright kids
can’t afford to go to college without facing a lifetime of debt. Seniors
and disabled veterans are struggling to stay alive on inadequate Social
Security checks.
Despite all of that pain, the greed of the billionaire class in this
country knows no limits. No. We will not allow them to take away from
those in need in order to give a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the
very rich.
Here’s a radical
idea for my colleagues in the Republican Party: instead of just
listening to the rich and powerful few in this country, maybe just maybe
Congress should listen to the majority of the American people who want a
fair tax system.
Maybe just maybe corporate tax reform should start by preventing
profitable companies from sheltering profits in tax haven countries like
the Cayman Islands.
Here is something you may not know:
A 2008 Government Accountability Office report found that 83 of the
Fortune 100 companies use at least one offshore tax scheme to lower
their taxes. A 2016 study found that one of every five large, profitable
corporations paid no federal income taxes at all in 2012.
The practice of stashing profits in places like the Cayman Islands has
become so absurd that one single, five-story office building there is
now the official legal “home” to more than 18,000 corporations! Our tax
code has essentially legalized tax dodging for large corporations.
We must stop this bill. We must stop the Republicans from moving this country into an oligarchy.
And that starts with all of us standing up, fighting back and making
our voices heard. Three weeks ago progressives from coast to coast ran
for office at the local and state level – and they won. We have to
continue that progress and build on that momentum.
Brothers and sisters. We must do exactly the opposite of what Trump is
attempting to do. He wants to divide us up by the color of our skin, our
gender, our religion, our sexual orientation or our country of origin.
He wants us fighting with each other while Wall Street and the
billionaire class laugh all the way to the bank.
Our job is to bring our people together around an agenda that creates
an economy and government that works for all, not just the 1 percent.
Defeating this terrible piece of legislation will be an important step
forward.
This bill is a moral abomination. I hope you’ll add your name if you agree.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders
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