If you are like me, you feel overloaded with news that indicates our country is going in a very wrong direction. Our President’s refusal to certify the Iran deal, his baiting of North Korea, his termination of DACA, his elimination of government health subsidies, his refusal to condemn white supremacist groups and his constant misrepresentation of the truth are just a few indicators of this. Our President thinks that the lives of the American people are one big reality show in which the person with the most outrageous and ignorant behavior scores the most points.

While we are distracted by the antics of the President, Republicans in Congress feel compelled to pass “tax reform”. They believe they must do so or forfeit the mid-term elections. Unfortunately, their tax reform bill is as poorly thought out as their health care plan – designed to aid the wealthy at the expense of the middle class Trump was elected to help. Main elements of the plan are a cut in top individual rates, a cut in corporate rates, elimination of the estate tax and a bizarre scheme that allows wealthy people to pretend that they are corporations. The nonpartisan Tax Policy center estimates that by 2027 80% of the benefits of the Republican tax plan would go to the top 1%. Some middle-class people will pay more.

Trump and the Republicans who are afraid to oppose him hope to sell this plan through lies. (Paul Krugman’s October 15, 2017 column Lies, Lies, Lies, Lies, Lies, Lies, Lies, Lies, Lies Lies in the New York Times details 10 whoppers the GOP want Americans to believe.) We need to educate ourselves on the tax law and oppose it. This should be an area where we can persuade Trump voters – polls show that 60% of Americans want higher taxes on corporations and the rich. We need to expose the Republican pandering to big dollar donors at the expense of everyday Americans. We need to tell our representatives that we won’t stand for this. We need to keep this issue in the media. We cannot afford a Republican tax reform victory in our pocketbooks or at the ballot box.

Your President,
Carol Jablonski