Thanksgiving is just two days away. Are you ready to talk to your family about the #TrumpTaxScam?
Whether you plan to bring it up or just want to be ready when someone else does, I hope these tweets might help. 1/
Your uncle says: "My taxes are high enough! It's about damn time Trump gives us a break!"
You: "Actually, 94 million families will get a tax increase under this plan. Non-partisan analysis shows the cuts are heavily tilted to the top." taxpolicycenter.org/model-estimate… 2/
Then your uncle says: "Those analyses are fake news. They show what happens AFTER tax cuts expire. Congress won't let that happen."
You say: "Actually they're done by non-partisan experts, and, Congress just let health insurance for 9 million uninsured kids expire so..." 3/
Your cousin chimes in: "Doesn't it make sense that richest ppl get most money out of a tax cut? I mean, they're richer to start with."
You say: "The wealthiest see a benefit way bigger than everyone else -- even when measured as % of after tax income." taxpolicycenter.org/feature/analys… 4/
Cousin's new BF says: "I heard they're doubling the standard deduction. That will surely help!"
You say: "Yes, but they're eliminating exemptions too. That basically washes out a larger -- not doubled! -- standard deduction. And then they let it expire in 10 years." 5/
Uncle again: "But our businesses just can't compete. We have the highest tax rate in the world!"
You: "The effective rate - what corporations actually pay - is in line with the rest of the world. And corporate tax cuts help shareholders, not workers." cbpp.org/research/feder… 6/
Your parents' neighbor: "Imagine what will happen when we cut taxes for job creators. I've been out of work for too long."
You: "Sorry to hear that. A tax plan like this was a miserable failure when Kansas did it, and it didn't lead to growth. Kansas lagged behind." 7/
Your little bro: "Hey, won't Donald Trump himself get a huge tax cut personally from this plan?"
You: "YES, THANK YOU. Repealing the alt. minimum tax alone would save him millions every year. The AMT ensures rich ppl like Trump can't exploit their way to paying no tax." 8/
You go on: "And the Senate's doubling of the estate tax exemption --"
Uncle again: "Yeah! The death tax!"
You: "The estate tax affects 0.2% of fams. Only heirs inheriting over $11 million pay it. More ppl watched Heroes Season 4 than benefit from repeal of the estate tax.” 9/
Your aunt: "I'm just glad they're repealing the freedom-killing individual mandate."
You: "That would mean 13 million more ppl are uninsured and premiums go up an extra 10%. This is why the tax fight = the health care fight." cbo.gov/publication/53… 10/
You go on: "But even if they take the mandate repeal out, the tax fight is STILL a health care fight. The Tax Scam adds $1.5 trillion to the deficit -- which I thought you cared about AUNT BRENDA -- and will force deep cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and SS down the road. 11/
Your mom: "Where did you find all of this info?"
You: "There are explainers, call scripts, state data and more at trumptaxscam.org. Everything we need to stop the #TrumpTaxScam." 12/
Your bro: "Hey, what can I do to help?"
You: "@IndivisibleTeam is having a national day of action on 11/27. You can find and register an event here: act.indivisible.org/event/local-ac… We can stop this terrible bill! But we need everyone in on this fight, right now." 13/
Your elementary school BFF (when did she get here?): "I live in a blue state. What can I do?"
You: "Sign up here to make calls to fellow progressives in target states like AZ, TN, and WV and patch them through to their Senators! trumptaxscam.org/calls-to-kill-… 14/
If Dems supporting the #BankLobbyistAct are looking for an off ramp to change their mind, they have all they need to jump ship between the managers amdt (new text) and the CBO score. Here are a few new provisions added last night. 1/
Big Q: is Sec. 310 anything more than a gift to Equifax? We WANT alt. data considered in credit scores but 1 of the only alternative models is Equifax's Vantage Score. There's NO accountability for breach affecting 148 million ppl in this bill. Equifax doesn't need a new gift. 2/
Also added: section creating new loopholes for risky commercial real estate loans, a key driver of community bank failures ~2008. Supporters say this will make credit more available, but commercial lending is already taking off w/o it. No need for this. ourfinancialsecurity.org/wp-content/upl… 3/
Here are some of the “community banks” escaping regulation under a bill the Senate is voting on in less than 2 weeks. Just your run-of-the-mill, mom-and-pop banks down the street from you:
-Deutsche Bank
-Santander
-Barclays 1/
Here are some of the "community banks" that would get new legal footing to challenge federal oversight. You've probably heard of them because, gee wilikers, they're known for being real friends of our communities:
-Wells Fargo
-Goldman Sachs 2/
Sadly, just a decade since the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the Senate is plowing ahead with a bill that would de-regulate 25 of the 38 biggest financial institutions -- in the name of helping "community banks." politico.com/story/2018/02/… 3/
Trump's infrastructure plan is out (released on same day as his proposed budget later this AM).
First thing to know: it is NOT a "$1 trillion infrastructure plan." It is $200 billion in federal spending OFFSET by cuts to other programs, including infrastructure programs! 1/
Reading through now and will tweet some reactions, and will probably get interrupted by budget release (happy Monday).
2/
To underscore previous point, key word here is "stimulate." Trump expects $200 billion in federal spending (offset by program cuts) to generate the other $850 billion. That's an absurd assumption and there's nothing to back it up. 3/
Infrastructure update: Trump is *allegedly* releasing his infrastructure principles on Monday (the same day that his President's Budget is expected to be released). reuters.com/article/us-usa… 1/
The overlapping timing is an... interesting... choice given that his last budget SLASHED funding for infrastructure. Releasing his plan and his budget on the same day will make clear whether seriously investing in infrastructure is REALLY a priority. indivisible.org/resource/trump… 2/
His principles leaked last month, and here's what we know about them.
1. His "$1.5 trillion plan" only has $200B in federal funding, offset by "unspecified $ cuts." (Read: could be Medicaid, nutrition assistance, housing, legal aid, or even other infrastructure programs!) 3/
Alright, alright. I'll bring it full circle in this final hour before the Senate votes. From the beginning we've been calling the #GOPTaxScam just that -- a scam. What makes it a scam? Here goes. (And all of my tax friends should jump in.) 1/
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It was NEVER designed to be a gift to the middle class. Its key features are a massive corporate tax cut, further erosion of the estate tax, and new tax breaks for hedge funds, private law firms, and the Trump Org. It lowers the tax rate on millionaires. 3/
Good morning! In case you spent the weekend checked out of #GOPTaxScam news, here’s an update. TL; DR: we can STILL win. The #CorkerKickback is a thing. Corker, Collins, and Flake are key. 1/
#CorkerKickback: turns out a new loophole was added for pass-through income *during the conference committee.* It specifically benefits real estate LLCs, and would personally enrich Bob Corker and Donald Trump. ibtimes.com/political-capi… 2/
Remember, @SenBobCorker said after conference he’ll flip his vote from no to yes. What does he say about #CorkerKickback? Only read “like a 2-page summary,” not the bill, so he didn’t know about it. But Cornyn said it was added to cobble together votes. ibtimes.com/political-capi… 3/