Newsletter #34, Thursday, November 23, 2017
54 weeks down, 50
weeks
to mid-term elections
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This is a special edition of the PEG Newsletter devoted exclusively to an extraordinary threat to our country.
We are asking you to take action even if you have never done so before.
This is our chance to avoid an injustice that will adversely affect millions of people for years to come.
“Just like with healthcare, our path to stopping this bill is through voicing tremendous constituent pressure, forcing Republicans to delay or slow their process. Each and every Senator needs to hear loud and clear from their constituents that you don’t want this bill.
Congressional Republicans are hoping that you will be too tired from the healthcare fight, too distracted by the holidays, and not too motivated by tax policy.
Let’s prove them wrong. Make a call. Schedule a visit to your Senators’ office before Thanksgiving. Show up on November 27 for a sit-in. Let’s stop this thing together.” -
Indivisible
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We’ve all been hearing, and perhaps observing, that the divide between rich and poor is growing wider in America. The middle-class is dwindling, too. The Republican tax plan, which would make the rich grow richer while robbing poor, would accelerate this divide between rich and poor. As Adam Davidson explains in the
New Yorker
, during the first few years of the new tax plan, those on the bottom income rungs would pay a little less than they do now. But by 2027, the only ones who would benefit are millionaires while those with incomes under ten thousand would suffer a raise in taxes.
More seriously, the Republicans are using this tax bill to gut Medicare and Medicaid, defund Planned Parenthood, and take health care away from people with pre-existing conditions.
The Republican tax bill is the product of unrestrained greed. Growing numbers of millionaires appear to feel entitled to it all, and are comfortable in promoting a class of serfs to serve their gluttony, their desire for more yachts, Mercedes, and jewels, while those in the bottom rungs don’t deserve health insurance. For those of us who grew up middle class in America, who were taught that a progressive tax structure serves the equality at the heart of our democracy, the Republican tax bill knifes the values at our core.
It’s time to halt our slide into an oligarchy. All Americans with a conscience must take concrete steps to fight the Republican tax plan. There isn’t much time as the House has already passed their version of the bill; the Senate is going to begin intense debate about it on Monday with the hope of passing it in the next week or so.
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1) Call Republican Senators—not just your own
Although you may prefer to rely on your own words, the following site will provide an effective script for the telephone and connect you to appropriate offices:
Indivisible, another action group, recommends targeting senators, including Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, who have previously expressed concerns about the gutting of health insurance. For complete information on their strategy, including Senator specific scripts, go to
https://www.trumptaxscam.org/scam
2) Participate in Indivisible’s National Day of Action on Monday, November 27
Another Script
3) Call these Michigan Republicans who have a history of voting sensibly for Michiganders’ wellbeing
Governor Snyder: 517-335-7858
State Representative David Maturen: 517-373-1787
State Representative Chris Afendoulis 517-373-0218
State Representative Michael McCready: 517-373-8670
State Representative Julie Calley: 517-373-0842
State Representative Dave Pagel: 517-373-1796
State Representative Kathy Crawford: 517-373-0827
State Representative Brett Roberts: 517-373-1775
State Representative Daniela Garcia: 517-373-0830
State Representative Jason Sheppard: 517-373-2617
State Representative Larry Inman: 517-373-1766
State Representative Scott VanSingel: 517-373-7317
State Representative Jim Lilly: 517-373-0838
4) Call your senators to ask them to obstruct the GOP's tax scam
Republicans are trying to rush their tax scam(plan) through. We can slow it down so people have more time to oppose it. Thanks to Ann Arbor Indivisible for providing these actions we can take.
The
quickest thing you can do is to leave a message by pressing 1. You will be counted. Read the short messages below or make your own.
You can also do
more by pressing 3 to talk with a staffer, who you can tell that you expect your senator to fight harder than usual, because Trump is not business as usual. Ask the senator to withhold consent on
other Senate business, give speeches against the scam, and write essays for her/his web site, Facebook and Twitter. That's how your senator can go from good to great!
Sen. Stabenow: 202-224-4822 (DC), 313-961-4330 (Detroit)
Sen. Peters: 202-224-6221 (DC), 313-226-6020 (Detroit)
Short script:
Hello! My name is (NAME) and I live at (STREET, CITY, ZIP), and I’m with Ann Arbor Indivisible.
It's not enough for Senator ______ to vote no on the Trump Tax Scam. I expect him/her to work actively to slow down and expose any tax bill for the scam it is. She/He can make speeches, and post them on Facebook and her/his web site. He/She can withhold consent on any Senate business to slow it, and submit hundreds of amendments to any reconciliation bill to slow it. She/He should do these things for any bill that:
• Cuts taxes for people making over $200,000 per year or for corporations, OR
• Cuts Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, and other critical programs in order to pay for tax cuts.
(OPTIONAL) Please call me back. My phone is _____.
Thank you.
Extra Credit: Write a letter to MLive
here
.
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5) Tell your senators to deploy all their tools to stop the GOP tax scam
These are action items from Wall-Of-Us/Indivisible/Indivisible MI11.
Good news: if you have a private jet you are in luck, the tax scam/bill the House passed has a
special tax break for airplane owners like you! Go ahead and skip this action.
Bad news: if you care about anything or anyone other than private jet owners and the tax ‘burden’ on the 1%, this bill is a nightmare. On top of specific attacks on
education,
Obamacare and
Medicare, the bill will actually
raise taxes for poor and lower middle class families in the long run.
Activism can be taxing, but no need to get lax. This scam still has to
clear the Senate and we have a chance to defeat it before it is too late. Here’s how:
- Learn about the two hardball tactics your Senators should be using to resist the GOP tax scam (from our friends at Indivisible).
- Then call your Senator and ask them to deploy those tactics to stop the GOP tax scam.
- Senator Debbie Stabenow
202-224-4822 DC
313-961-4330 Detroit
Senator Gary Peters
202-224-6221 DC
248-608-8040 Rochester
Use this script: Hello! My name is [___] and I’m calling from [part of state]. I’m calling to let [Congressman / Senator __] know that I strongly oppose the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This tax bill is a scam that will give massive cuts to the wealthy, paid for by stripping tens of thousands of people in [state] of their health care and raising taxes on middle-class families. Will the Senator commit to
withholding consent on votes in the Senate, or
filibustering, so that we have time to mobilize against this bill?
WallOfUs.org
Plus call these Republican Senators who can help us:
Bob Corker, Tennessee: 901-683-1910 - Please oppose the tax bill because of the increase in the deficit, saddling our children with 2.3 trillion more debt borrowed from the Chinese and Saudi Arabia. Thank you for your leadership in the area of foreign relations and opposing the behavior of the President. Please vote NO.
John McCain, Arizona: 602-952-2410 - Please oppose the tax bill because of the lack of hearings, secrecy, no bi-partisanship, no regular order and another 2.3 trillion in debt borrowed from the Chinese and Saudi Arabia that won't be invested in our country but will just go to the wealthy. This is no way to reform taxes or health care. Thank you for all you have done so far to try to call the Senate back to the way it should be governing. Please vote NO.
Rand Paul, Kentucky: 270-782 -8303 - Please oppose the tax bill because of the increase in the deficit, saddling our children with another 2.3 trillion in debt borrowed from the Chinese and Saudi Arabia. Please vote NO.
Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania: 610-434-1444 - Please oppose the tax bill because of the increase in the deficit, saddling our children with another 2.3 trillion in debt borrowed from the Chinese and Saudi Arabia that won't be invested in our country but will just go to the wealthy. Please vote NO.
Orrin Hatch, Utah: 202-224-5251 - Please oppose the tax bill because of the increase in the deficit, saddling our children with another 2.3 trillion in debt borrowed from the Chinese and Saudi Arabia that won't be invested in our country but will just go to the wealthy.
Susan Collins, Maine: 207-780-3575 - Thank you for your position on the health care bill. Please oppose the tax bill because of the lack of hearings, the secrecy, no bi-partisanship, no regular order and another 2.3 trillion in debt borrowed from the Chinese and Saudi Arabia that won't be invested in our country but will just go to the wealthy. This is no way to reform taxes or health care. It hurts ordinary people.Thank you for all you have done so far to try to call the Senate back to the way it should be governing and to help the American people with their health care. Please vote NO.
Jeff Flake, Arizona: 602-840-1891 - Thank you for your calls for civility and good government. Please oppose the tax bill because of the increase in the deficit, by another 2.3 trillion dollars, saddling our children with debt borrowed from the Chinese and Saudi Arabia. Please vote NO.
Ron Johnson, Wisconsin: 414-276-7282 - Please oppose because the tax bill doesn't give enough help to small businesses which are the core of job creation, while making large corporation's tax cuts permanent, and making it easier for them to move companies overseas. Please vote NO.
Lisa Murkowski, Alaska: 907-271-3735 - Thank you for your position on the health care bill, and please oppose the tax bill because of the lack of hearings, the secrecy, no bi-partisanship, no regular order and another 2.3 trillion in debt borrowed from the Chinese and Saudi Arabia that won't be invested in our country but will just go to the wealthy. This is no way to reform taxes or health care. Thank you for all you have done so far to try to call the Senate back to the way it should be governing and to help the American people with their health care. Please vote NO.
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Great Summary of Tax Cut and Healthcare Repeal Bill
Tax policy is complicated. Politicians would just love it if you'd believe their rhetoric and not pay attention to the fine print. But that's a really bad idea. Here's a simple way to look at how most of America is about to get hosed. From Andy Slavitt.
News and Guts Facebook post
“News and Guts is a media company created by Dan Rather that promotes his vision of real journalism, news of integrity and as he would say a "play no favorites, pull no punches" brand of reporting. News with guts. In these turbulent times, we seek nothing more than the truth.”
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Abortion And The Tax Bill; A Quiet Provision Slipped In By The GOP
It seems like a new age term but “personhood” has been around for awhile. And quietly Senators inserted it into the tax bill that was passed on Friday night by the Senate Finance Committee. But personhood has little to do with taxes and a lot to do with abortion. Here’s what happened: the new tax code has a provision that gives a tax break for fetuses. Parents could sign up their yet-to-be born child for a college savings plan (called 529’s) that allows for tax savings. Here’s where it gets strange. By listing the unborn child as a beneficiary of the savings account, he or she would automatically have rights, which would make it a crime to abort. Here’s more explanation from
The Huffington Post.
“The tax bill’s language is part of a broader strategy employed by the White House and Congressional Republicans to chip away at Roe v. Wade, says Sarah Lipton-Lubet, vice president for reproductive health and rights at the National Partnership for Women and Families. For years, anti-abortion activists have tried (and mostly failed) to get “personhood” laws passed that would give embryos and fetuses rights ― ultimately making it a crime to abort them.”
But there is already a provision in Federal law that provides for parents to set up 529 accounts for the unborn. This is solely and effort,
according to this piece from Alternet, to create legal fetal personhood, despite decades of court rulings.
Who Knew Tax Reform Impacted Mental Health?
Tax reform should not hurt people with mental illness. Current proposals would do just that.
Here’s how.
Senate May Approve Drilling In Alaskan Wilderness With Tax Bill
Republicans are on the cusp of accomplishing two major policy goals that have eluded them for decades, at the same time. The Senate could soon approve oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge with
its bill to overhaul the nation's tax code.
NPR
How Republicans Can 'Shoehorn' Temporary Tax Cuts In For Good
The White House budget director said the Senate GOP bill makes individual rates last only eight years to "game the system" and fit inside budget rules. Critics say it obscures true costs of tax cuts.
NPR
Here’s the incredibly unpopular GOP tax reform plan — in one graph
George Washington University political scientist Chris Warshaw
compiled
public polls capturing support for major legislation dating back almost 30 years. Here’s what he found:
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On average, only about 30 percent of Americans support the tax plan. This is lower than support for almost any of these legislative initiatives. The only thing that was less popular was … the Republican health-care bill that was intended to replace the Affordable Care Act. Let’s work to have this bill suffer the same fate as that one.
To see a clearer version of the graph and learn more, click here.
-Washington Post
Towns and cities fear trickle-down effects of federal tax plan
Officials are warning that the $1.5 trillion tax legislation in Congress, which would eliminate or curtail taxpayers’ ability to deduct the cost of state and local taxes from their federal tax bill, threatens to undermine local leaders’ ability to raise money for government services, including police and schools.
Read why they are afraid here. -
Washington Post
Republicans Are Laser-Targeting Enemies in Their Tax Bill
It is truly astounding how targeted this tax bill is. It favors rich investors, who mostly vote Republican. It punishes big, urban states that mostly vote Democratic. It hurts universities, which are also filled with Democrats. And it specifically harms students, who mostly wouldn’t be caught dead ever voting for a Republican.
Read all about it.
-Mother Jones
Tax Cuts for Small-Business Owners? It’s Complicated
The House Republicans’ tax overhaul bill calls for reducing the tax burden on people who own small businesses like Steve’s Bike Shop — not giving breaks to professional athletes like Stephen Curry, the N.B.A. All-Star.
In the end, though, the bill might not help the fictional Steve or the real Steph, who were named in the bill. But Mr. Curry’s wife, Ayesha, a TV personality who receives royalties and licensing fees from businesses she represents, could get a tax break.
More on the subject here.
New York Times
How the Trump Tax Cuts Would Reshape (and/or Break) Our Economy
Rep. Kildee: Just saying tax plan benefits middle class doesn’t make it so
Congress is working on tax reform. Earlier this week, we
heard about the effort
from Republican member of Congress Fred Upton. Today,
Stateside
talked with Democratic Congressman Dan Kildee. Listen
on Michigan Radio
to Kildee’s full interview with Stateside host Lester Graham, or read a transcript of the beginning of the conversation.
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Monday, Nov. 27, Indivisibles National Day of Action
State Representative Donna Lasinski Whitmore Lake Coffee Hours
Thursday, Nov. 30, Whitmore Lake
Peaberry Bean & Beats, 152 Barker Road, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 18, Scio Township
Coffee House Creamery, 3780 Jackson Road, Ann Arbor, 8-9 a.m.
Saturday, Dec. 2, A Medicare for All Townhall
This is presented by Washtenaw County Michigan United 4 to 6 pm at the Washtenaw County Resource Center, 4135 Washtenaw, Ann Arbor from 4 to 6pm.
Click here more information.
Sunday, December 3. Learn how to fight for progressive values
Come to a workshops on how to fight for progressive values as we enter the midterm 2018 elections. Learn how framing has worked for conservative groups have used framing and how to think about, and fight for, progressive values. This workshop has been organized by Indivisible MI District 11 as part of the Awaken Program (www.indivisiblemi11.org). You may contact Michelle Pallas regarding questions or scholarship requests at: [email protected].
Click here to learn more. 2–5 p.m.
2075 Squirrel Road, Bloomfield Township, MI. $35 fee.
Michigan Resistance Calling Parties
Monday, Dec. 4th, Ann Arbor
1320 W Huron St, 6-8pm
Tuesday, Dec. 5th, Ann Arbor
813 Spring Street, 2-4 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 11th, Ann Arbor
1320 W Huron St, Ann Arbor, 6-8 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 12th, Ann Arbor
Location TBD,: 2-4pm
Monday, December 18, State Representative Donna Lasinski Ann Arbor Coffee Hour
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Sunday, January 21, Let People Vote! — The Campaign for Full and Fair Access to the Ballot in the 21st Century
Sharon Dolente is the Voting Rights Strategist for the Michigan ACLU, will describe how and why Michigan lags behind nearly every other state in the union when it comes to providing full and fair access to the ballot. She will explain the potential for voting rights to serve as a uniting issue in our state and around the country. Finally, she will discuss how audience members can get involved in the Let People Vote campaign. Jewish Community Center of Greater Ann Arbor,
2935 Birch Hollow Dr, Ann Arbor, 48108. 3 p.m.
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Have a Great Thanksgiving!
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