An Ignoble Experiment: Sign the petition: Oppose the Ryan tax cuts for the rich

Tell Democratic leaders: Oppose the Ryan tax cuts for the rich

Petition to Senate and House Democratic leaders:
"Hold the line against Speaker Paul Ryan's radical new tax plan, and oppose any proposals that would cut taxes on the rich or tax-dodging multinational corporations."

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Dear Indiana,

Tell Democratic leaders: Oppose the Ryan tax cuts for the rich

House Speaker Paul Ryan has rolled out a new "consensus" Republican tax plan, and it is even worse than Donald Trump's.

Ryan's plan would cost "only" $4 trillion, as opposed to the $12 trillion price tag for Trump's proposal.¹ But underneath the surface, the new Ryan tax plan is even more extreme, and chock full of the worst right-wing ideas from the last decade: Shocking rate cuts for the 1%, slashing corporate tax rates, repealing the estate tax, and rewarding companies that hide profits overseas.² Even though Citizens for Tax Justice call the plan "in some ways more extreme" than Trump's, Republicans are trying to spin it as a reasonable alternative.³

Possibly even more dangerous, the Ryan tax plan also contains ideas that corporate Democrats – such as presumptive future Democratic majority leader Sen. Chuck Schumer – have agreed to in the past.^4,5 We need to make it clear from the get-go that no Democrat should be giving bipartisan cover to massive giveaways to the rich.

Tell Democratic Leaders: Oppose the Ryan tax cuts for the rich. Click here to sign the petition.

A Citizens for Tax Justice analysis found that 60 percent of the tax breaks in the Ryan plan would go to the top 1% of Americans, compared to 37 percent under Trump's plan. Instead of investing in American workers, Ryan would repeal the estate tax, cut taxes on buying and selling investments (known as capital gains), and reward companies that have dodged taxes for years by slashing the corporate tax rate.⁶

Sadly, in years past, Sen. Schumer has teamed up with Republicans on ideas very similar to the ones in Ryan's plan. In 2015, he partnered with Republican Sen. Rob Portman to propose a giveaway to corporations that have been hiding nearly $2.2 trillion offshore. Both the Ryan and Schumer-Portman plans would tax profits earned overseas at a lower rate, incentivizing offshoring jobs and leaving companies that do business in the U.S. at a permanent disadvantage to multinationals who can use financial trickery to pretend their profits were earned elsewhere.⁷

The Ryan tax plan is the latest in a series of six policy proposals that he hopes will serve as guides for Republicans during the election and in years to come. It's essential that Democrats – especially high-profile, potential future leaders like Sen. Schumer – make it clear that Republicans are siding with Wall Street banks, hedge fund vultures, and corporate tax cheats by refusing to lend any bipartisan support to the Ryan plan.

Tell Democratic Leaders: Oppose the Ryan tax cuts for the rich. Click here to sign the petition.

Tax cuts for the rich under both Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush didn't spur economic growth.⁸ And even though most of the hysteria around the deficit is cover for privatization and austerity, it's worth noting that neither of these plans would pay for themselves without that growth.⁹

By pushing radically conservative tax plans in the face of all evidence that they will fail, Republicans are showing that their true goal is rewarding the rich at the expense of everyone else. Even if this plan stalls in Congress, the ideas could emerge in future negotiations over government funding. We simply can't afford for Democrats to send mixed messages about rewarding the 1% and international corporations.

Tell Democratic Leaders: Oppose the Ryan tax cuts for the rich. Click below to sign the petition:

https://act.credoaction.com/sign/ryan_tax_plan_2016/?t=7&akid=18983.7925804.ba4RZ9

Thank you for speaking out,

Murshed Zaheed, Political Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets

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