House GOP approves tax plan; urge senators to oppose it

Corporations, wealthy get 80% of tax cuts; millions of Americans would pay more

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 17, 2017) — The U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday to approve the House Republicans’ tax plan, 227-205. All four Republicans from Washington state — Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Dave Reichert, Jaime Herrera Beutler, and Dan Newhouse — voted “yes,” while every Democrat from Washington state and the rest of the country voted “no.”

In their rush to have President Donald Trump sign this legislation before Christmas — and before public opposition can mount to it — House Republicans allowed no hearings on the bill. Nor did they wait for the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to release an analysis of the bill.

However, after Thursday’s vote, the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation released its analysis that found the House tax bill delivers more than 80 percent of its overall cuts to corporations, business owners and wealthy families who would benefit from repeal of the federal estate tax. Previous independent analyses of the bill found that these tax breaks will be financed by higher taxes on millions of middle-class families and a $1.5 trillion debt passed on to our children and grandchildren. In addition, the bill will trigger a $25 billion cut in Medicare.

The effort to stop the Republican tax plan now moves to the Senate, where both Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) have already announced their opposition.

Senate GOP leaders are attempting to finance their version by, once again, going after the Affordable Care Act. Their tax bill would repeal the ACA’s requirement that Americans get health care coverage. Billions of dollars that would otherwise be spent helping low- and middle-income families afford health insurance would be diverted to help finance tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy. A previous CBO analysis of the Senate GOP’s failed efforts to repeal he ACA found that repeal of the ACA’s health care requirement would save more than $300 billion over a decade but result in 13 million fewer Americans being covered by health insurance by the end of that period.

Sen. Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate health committee, released the following statement Wednesday about the GOP tax plan:

“This latest plan makes it clear that Republican leaders are absolutely committed to giving the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations a massive tax cut and asking workers, patients, and middle class families to foot the bill.

“Nothing highlights what this plan is truly all about more than the fact that its tax cuts for massive corporations are permanent, while the middle class gets crumbs that last only a few years.  And despite Republicans spending years claiming to care about the deficit, this plan would add trillions of dollars to the national debt, triggering $25 billion in Medicare cuts next year and opening the door for Republicans to do even more to come after Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and other middle class priorities.

It is also truly shameful that after Trumpcare was rejected time and again, and while we have a bipartisan health care plan that would actually reduce premiums, Republicans are trying to sneak in and jam through a health care change that would allow them to pay for hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts for the rich by asking middle class families to foot the bill and pay thousands more in premiums every year.

“This plan would be devastating for families and communities in Washington state and across the country, and I am going to fight back against it as hard as I can. I am hopeful that enough Republicans will stand with their constituents and join me in rejecting this plan and getting to work on tax reform that actually works for middle class families, patients, and the economy.”

TAKE A STAND — Working people should not be stuck with the bill for tax giveaways to people who don’t need them. Make a call to urge our elected leaders to reject any budget package that makes drastic cuts that hurt working people to pay for wasteful tax giveaways for the rich and corporations. Click here to fill out a quick form, and you’ll get a call back connecting you with your senator.