Things are moving fast…
The Senate may vote on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as soon as Thursday, November 30.
This tax bill is fundamentally flawed and cannot be fixed – in three big ways:
It is irresponsible, growing deficits by at least $1.5 trillion over the next decade. This will put enormous pressure on Congress to deeply cut essential programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP (food stamps), housing assistance, education, environmental protection, and countless others.
It is regressive, giving giant tax cuts to large corporations and the wealthiest households while raising taxes on everyone else. By the time it is fully enacted, all households earning less than $75,000 will see a tax increase. Those with incomes between $20,000 and $30,000 will face a tax hike of 25 percent! Meanwhile, millionaires would have $16,800 added to their incomes.
It threatens health coverage for millions. By repealing the individual mandate to have health insurance, congressional leaders get more than $300 billion in savings to pay for the corporate tax cuts, but as a result, 13 million people will become uninsured and millions of people will see significant premium increases.
We need to ramp up our advocacy efforts to stop this harmful bill by contacting ALL members of Congress. Join the Faith Community’s Call-In Day.
Wednesday, November 29
Call Senators Casey and Toomey: 888-885-1748; alternatively you can call directly—find their contact information:
- Senator Robert Casey: http://casey.senate.gov
- Senator Pat Toomey: http://toomey.senate.gov
Please call your representative as well—find contact information at http://www.house.gov.
Keep calling until the tax bill is defeated or passed.
Here is a sample message:
“Hi, my name is [your name] I’m a constituent from [city, state].
I am calling as a person of faith from [name of congregation and location]. My faith guides me to strongly oppose the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act because it increases economic inequity and calls for the partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act which will hurt the most vulnerable.
Paying for large and permanent tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy by taking away healthcare from millions of Americans, eliminating social programs, and raising taxes for middle-class and low-income people and families is not moral. It worsens the growing wealth divide.
I urge [Senator XX /Representative XX] to speak up and actively support protections for the most vulnerable.
Please tell [senator/ representative] to say “no” to any bill that: [include additional points that speak to you, such as:
- undermines the Affordable Care Act, causing millions to lose their health insurance in order to pay for corporate tax cuts.
- repeals the Johnson Amendment, threatening the integrity of our elections and destroying the separation of church and state.
- increases taxes for households making less than $75,000/year while lowering them for millionaires.
Thank you.”
Your voice can make a powerful difference in the outcome of this legislation. We have to stop this bill’s momentum. A survey of biblical references to taxation illustrates that inequitable taxation and taxpayer resistance are not new. The people of God have long struggled with taxes as an issue of social justice. As the struggle continues, the church must confront the social injustice evident in our tax structures in a manner that is consistent with our Biblical and confessional traditions.
It is time to ramp up our advocacy as much as we can. Please speak up now to our senators and your representative. Tell them to oppose the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Urge them instead to take a bipartisan approach to tax reform that won’t create enormous deficits or threaten future priorities.
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