John,
Yesterday the Senate deadlocked 47-47 on the massive $1.8 trillion coronavirus-stimulus legislation.
This bill, crafted largely by Senate Republicans, puts corporate interests before public needs and does not do nearly enough for struggling families and individuals as well as state and local governments who are at the front lines of this crisis.
Senate Democrats have a lot of leverage right now to make sure this legislation benefits Main Street more than Wall Street. That’s because Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell needs more than 10 Democratic votes to pass the economic stimulus bill, as 60 votes are required. Several Republican senators are quarantined due to exposure to people who have tested positive for the coronavirus or they are Covid-19 positive (in the case of Sen. Rand Paul).
House Democrats can also make sure this bill is not another repeat of the no-strings-attached bailout of Wall Street that occurred in 2009 as a response to the impending Great Recession.
Write to your Senators and Representative right now and tell them to pass legislation that puts a lot more money directly into the pockets of struggling families and individuals, not one that gives long-desired tax breaks to corporations that would do little to address the economic crisis.
McConnell's Senate bill would:
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Give tax breaks to big corporations whether affected by the pandemic or not, which could cost several hundred billion dollars; [1]
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Fail to get enough financial assistance quickly into the hands of working families and to state and local governments on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic;
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Provide a $500 billion slush fund for corporate bailouts that gives Trump’s Treasury Secretary a lot of power to decide who gets help, and that protects wealthy shareholders, while failing to protect the interests of working people and taxpayers.
Don’t let McConnell use the coronavirus pandemic to pass even more tax breaks for corporations after he and Donald Trump already enacted a $2 trillion tax scam that mostly went to the top 1% and big corporations.
The Senate may vote on this bill again later today. Click here to write to your Senators and Representative demanding a bill that puts people, not corporations first.
We cannot allow congressional Republicans to bailout big business without guardrails that protect American taxpayers from corporate abuse.
Thank you,
Frank Clemente
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness.
P.S. This month you can support ATF without opening your wallet! Click here to vote in CREDO’s March voting to demand a tax system and economy that puts people first!
[1] Americans for Tax Fairness, “Bad Balance: McConnell’s Coronavirus Bill Offers Working Families Too Little & Corporations Too Much,” March 21, 2020
