John,
The U.S. Senate is expected to begin debate tomorrow on a budget reconciliation bill that hands out nearly $5 trillion in tax breaks over the next decade that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy and powerful, including billionaires and multinational corporations, while slashing services that working families count on.
This is the same con we’ve seen before: blow up the deficit with giveaways to the rich, then shred the safety net to “pay for it.” It’s not about fiscal responsibility, it’s protecting billionaire wealth while working people get left with higher prices and fewer services.
The bill cuts roughly $1 trillion from Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act, jeopardizing care for one in five Americans. It slashes hundreds of billions from SNAP, forcing over 40 million people to face greater hunger. Education, infrastructure, and environmental protections all face deep reductions, with working families and vulnerable communities bearing the brunt. All to make room for tax breaks that overwhelmingly benefit the richest 1%.[1]
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund and our allies at Oxfam are collecting signatures on a national petition that will be hand-delivered to Congress demanding lawmakers vote this bill down and oppose tax cuts for the rich. The Senate could vote as early as this weekend.
Tell Congress to reject this budget and tax scam that steals from working people to further enrich the wealthy. Tell them instead to tax the rich!
The bill’s true cost is being hidden by gimmicks, pretending that the renewal of tax breaks for the rich won’t cost anything, even as lawmakers pledge to make them permanent. This budget would lock in the Trump tax cuts for the rich and corporations and go even further, all while state budgets are forced to absorb the damage of Congress shifting Medicaid and SNAP costs to the states.
That’s why 174 state legislators across 23 states have already signed our letter opposing this bill.[2] They’ve sounded the alarm because they know what happens when the federal government offloads costs: states and communities suffer. State budgets would be pushed to the brink, leading to children going hungry, families losing healthcare, hospital closures, and even deeper local service cuts.
Instead of cutting Medicaid and food assistance, Congress should be ending billionaire loopholes, closing offshore tax havens, and making the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share in taxes. The public overwhelmingly supports taxing the rich to fund services that benefit everyone. This bill does the opposite by rewarding greed and punishing need.
The billionaire class has spent billions of dollars to buy this policy. Now they want their return on investment. It’s up to us to stop them.
Demand the Senate reject this budget scam and instead tax the rich to fund the services working families rely on.
Let’s fight back together to stop this billionaire tax scam.
David Kass
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund
[1] Double Trouble: Senate Accepts Worst House Tax Provisions
[2] Over 170 State Legislators Tell Senate to Reject Trump Billionaire Tax Giveaway that Shifts Costs To States
