AFSCME members work hard to make life better for the communities they call home. They are public service workers who serve their very neighbors – keepings streets clean, educating children, caring for the elderly and more.
Representatives and senators in Washington are elected to do the same. But Senate leaders, following in the footsteps of their colleagues in the House, are about to approve a budget resolution that could make life harder for the communities they represent. All in the name of tax cuts for the rich.
Earlier this month, the House of Representatives approved a budget outline that would gut Medicaid, Medicare, public education, transportation, veterans’ services and other programs. It would raise the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67, and repeal the Affordable Care Act.
The Senate’s version isn’t much different. It would:
- Cut Medicare by more than $470 billion;
- Cut Medicaid by $1 trillion;
- Cut $5 trillion over the next decade from programs in health care, education, child care, affordable housing, nutrition assistance, transportation and more;
- Increase military spending by $91 billion in fiscal year 2018 alone;
- Increase the federal deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next decade, potentially leading to cuts to Social Security in the future.
Why? Tax cuts for the rich.
This budget resolution fails at every turn to reflect the values and priorities of working families in our country. The corporate elites who bankrolled this Congress and President Donald Trump are getting what they paid for.
The tax cuts they have in mind would benefit the wealthy and corporations, not working families. The cuts would serve millionaires, billionaires, and corporations – not students trying to pay for college, not single moms working two jobs to make ends meet, not former factory workers whose jobs were outsourced and whom Trump promised to help, and certainly not working families.
The beneficiaries would be the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans, while many others making between $50,000 and $150,000 a year could actually see their taxes increase. At a time of rising income inequality, of wealth disparities not seen since the 1920s, these tax cuts would make the problem worse.
It’s time to speak up and join the fight. You’ve done it before – together, we helped save the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid – and we can do it again. We can stop Congress and Trump from stealing from the middle class to give to the rich.
Join the fight. Call 1-877-960-3726 to tell your senators to vote NO on the Senate budget resolution.