FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 20, 2017
CONTACT: Rhonda Smith, Communications Manager, rsmith@piconetwork.org, 202-308-0514
Working People, Communities of Color Among Hardest Hit by Tax Bill GOP Approves; Trump Vows to Sign
WASHINGTON – Faith leaders at PICO National Network warned that the draconian tax bill Republican Congress members approved Dec. 20 and President Trump plans to sign will benefit the richest Americans but leave many low- and middle-income people scrambling to survive.
“In terms of cuts, the bill essentially repeals the Affordable Care Act, which will leave 13 million more U.S. residents without health insurance after a decade, and raises premiums by 10 percent for those who depend on the Affordable Care Act exchanges for health care,” said Bishop Dwayne D. Royster, the grassroots, faith-based organization’s political director. “The tax proposal also adds a trillion dollars to the federal deficit, which will trigger automatic cuts in Medicare funding that amounts to $25 billion annually.”
A bloated deficit flies in the face of everything Republicans claim they oppose. “House Speaker Paul Ryan has chosen to eliminate the safety net that Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security provide in an effort to fund the tax plan, which benefits the rich,” Royster said. The Republican tax bill also is an insult to everything people of faith are encouraged to support—relief for the poor, compassion, and policies that meet basic, human needs. PICO National Network will continue to speak out against this policy—and the Congress members who supported it, Royster said.
As Proverbs 3:27 advises: “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.”
The tax cut will mainly benefit those who own shares in American corporations, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The biggest beneficiary will be corporations because the corporate income tax rate was slashed in the final measure from 35 percent to 21 percent.
A handful of middle-income people who own shares in corporations will reap financial benefits from this tax policy but high-income Americans and foreign investors own the most shares. While President Trump and other Republicans tout the fact that millions of workers will receive financial benefits from the tax breaks as early as February, these modest increases aren’t permanent. This is not the case, of course, for corporate America, which stands to gain the most from passage of this harmful tax policy.
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PICO National Network is the largest grassroots, faith-based organizing network in the United States. The nonpartisan organization works with 1,000 religious congregations in more than 200 cities and towns through its 45 local and state federations. Learn more at www.piconetwork.org.
