November Educate Congress
A series of new investigative reports known as the “Paradise Papers” highlights how the richest 1% and wealthy corporations play by a different set of rules than the rest of us.
Their findings have already revealed Donald Trump's Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, retains an investment in a shipping firm with very close ties to Vladimir Putin's inner circle.
The reports detail how the wealthy and corporations use offshore tax loopholes and tax havens to accumulate wealth in secret and avoid paying taxes here at home. Trump’s tax scam―which would hand trillions of dollars in tax breaks to the richest 1% and wealthy corporations, paid for by cutting Medicare, Medicaid and education―would make a host of loopholes and tax breaks permanent. Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell have put their tax plan on a fast-track in Congress. We must fight back!
Text of Letter
As your constituent, I’m writing to express my outrage over the current tax plan being considered in Congress. It's time to head back to the drawing board; you will not want to face your voters after you have cut tax deductions used by ordinary citizens (state and local taxes, medical expense deduction, student loan deduction, etc.) but granted huge deductions to the 1,500 wealthiest families in the country and corporations that offshore jobs and profits.
A new series of investigative reports, known as the “Paradise Papers,” highlight how the wealthy and corporations play by a different set of rules than the rest of us. This even includes members of President Trump’s own cabinet. They use offshore tax havens to dodge paying their fair share.
The tax plan that you’ll be voting on shortly does nothing to close the tax loopholes being exploited by the richest 1% and wealthy corporations. Instead, it hands out massive tax cuts to the wealthy and well-connected, which will be paid for by cutting Medicare, Medicaid, education and many other necessary human services.
Corporations will get big tax cuts while teachers will no longer be able to deduct the cost of supplies they buy for their classrooms, people won't be able to deduct their student loan interest, and graduate students will get taxed on their tuition benefits.
One of the most cynical items in the new tax plan denies moving expenses as a deduction for employees who must relocate to keep their jobs while allow full deduction for corporations who fire their employees and relocate to another country. Are these the millions of jobs you’ve been promising? They are all overseas!
I demand that you reject this tax plan and instead create a tax system that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few.