Dear Leaders,
If you’ve suffered whiplash watching the GOP tax plan speed through both Houses of Congress then you’re not alone. No one could have imagined Congressional Republicans would succeed in so rapidly progressing a thoroughly debunked “middle-class tax plan.” Adding insult to injury, it seems hardly anyone – including the US Treasury – actually understand what’s in it.
If you, like the members of the US Senate, have not read the Senate bill that will form the basis of what will likely go to a final vote in both houses of Congress before Christmas, then here is a breakdown of what is in it.
Clearly the determination of Republicans to pass SOME tax legislation, ANY TAX LEGISLATION at all, no matter how poorly it serves the nation, has overwhelmed their long-standing aim of bringing down the deficit.[i] The plan passed by the Senate in the wee hours of Saturday morning blows out the deficit by $1 trillion.[ii]
Nor do Republicans seem concerned that their plan does not achieve their stated goals, such as stimulating the economy.[iii]
Or closing business tax loopholes.[iv]
Or cutting taxes for the middle class.[v]
Or bringing jobs back from overseas.[vi]
Or encouraging companies to hire more workers and pay them better.[vii]
Or eliminating the carried interest loophole that gives such outrageous advantage to hedge fund managers.[viii]
So what’s next? Tomorrow (Monday, Dec 4) the Congress will convene a Conference Committee to reconcile the differences between the bill passed by the Senate yesterday with the bill passed by the House of Representatives the week before Thanksgiving. The momentum is pretty powerful but there may yet be holdouts and dissenters.
The Taxation Task Force watched every hour of debate heard by the Senate Finance Committee and then on the floor of the US Senate chamber this last week. Reports and rumors from the press and the Hill had us on watch for floor amendments related to residence-based taxation, the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and FATCA. In the end there was silence on these matters.
We have drafted floor speeches for friends of Democrats Abroad in both houses of Congress and hope to hear our concerns voiced in those chambers and appearing in the Congressional record before this is over.
We're already hearing that the Congress will follow up with a further tax bill early next year so there's more work to be done.
In line with the statement released by Democrats Abroad on Saturday, the Taxation Task Force recommends you continue to encourage your members to call or message Congress to tell them to vote NO to this Trickle Down tax scam that rewards Republican donors at the expense of hard-working Americans. The campaign we ran for the last two weeks yielded over 1,100 messages to the US Senate, which is not nothing. Ten times that would have been preferable but it’s been a record-breaking year for outrage and our Resistance activists are clearly exhausted. We are grateful for their engagement.
Thanks to all leaders who have supported this important work. Please contact us at any time with questions
Democratically yours,
DEMOCRATS ABROAD TAXATION TASK FORCE
Julia Bryan - ex officio (Czech Republic)
DeeDee Gierow (Sweden)
Carmelan Polce - chair (New York and Australia)
Michael Ramos (Australia)
Joseph Smallhoover (France)
Orlando Vidal (UAE)