John,

Are you paying more for basic goods this holiday season? You’re not alone.

A new report from Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) titled “Stuffing Their Pockets: How Big Food and Agriculture Businesses are Making Your Holiday Meals More Expensive,” shows that the average family is paying over $3,000 a year toward greedflation―the difference between inflation and what businesses are charging consumers.[1]

Since 2020, inflation has risen 19%. But staple foods such as chicken, pork, and potatoes have seen their prices rise between 25 – 38%! As Senator Casey concludes in his report:

“This type of greedflation will strain family budgets during the holiday season.”

From basic foods to regular household items, corporations are price gouging consumers, padding their financial bottom lines to enrich corporate executives and wealthy shareholders. But these increased profits are apparently not enough for those on top.

Right now, corporate lobbyists are applying maximum pressure on Congress to pass a tax package that would cost U.S. taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars in lost revenue. That’s money Congress should be using to invest in working people, not wealthy CEOs and shareholders.

Add your name today to demand Congress rein in corporate greed and price gouging.

One of the tax cuts that corporations are seeking is called 100% bonus depreciation, which allows corporations to immediately write off the full cost of assets that hold their value a long time. This would cost taxpayers $325 billion over 10 years—more than the combined cost of providing universal pre-K and tuition-free community college over the same time period.

Corporations claim that without it, they’ll be forced to roll back business investments. But Americans for Tax Fairness research shows that when 100% Bonus Depreciation was in effect between 2018–2022, these same corporations primarily spent their tax windfall on enriching executives and wealthy shareholders, not investing in their workforce.[2]

During that five-year span, Google reported $205 billion in pre-tax domestic income, received a $6.1 billion tax cut from Bonus Depreciation rules, paid their top 5 executives $1.1 billion, and spent $168 billion on stock buybacks to enrich their shareholders.

Amazon reported $69 billion in pre-tax domestic income during that same time. They received a $6.5 billion tax cut from bonus depreciation rules, and used that money to pay their top 5 executives $713 million, while spending $6 billion on stock buybacks.

Time and again, corporations claim they’re re-investing corporate tax breaks in expanding their workforce and in workers’ wages, but time and again they simply seek to make the rich even richer.

Take action today and demand Congress rein in corporate greed and price gouging.

Together, we’re demanding an economy that works for everyday people, not just the wealthy and corporations

Thank you,

David Kass
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund

[1] Stuffing Their Pockets: How Big Food and Agriculture Businesses are Making Your Holiday Meals More Expensive
[2] BONUS DEPRECIATION TAX HANDOUT MEANS MORE EXECUTIVE PAYOUTS & STOCK BUYBACKS FOR MEGA-CORPORATIONS