Seven Reasons Why The Republican Tax Bill is Bad For Working People

Republicans in Congress have reached agreement on a job-killing tax plan that makes working people pay the price for massive tax giveaways to millionaires and wealthy corporations. 

Here are the main reasons the legislation is bad for working people:

1. Rigging the rules. Big banks, hedge funds and other Wall Street firms are the biggest winners from this tax bill. The richest 1% of households would receive 83% of tax cuts, and the richest 0.1% would get an average tax cut of more than $148,000. The tax bill is full of complex tax gimmicks that would encourage tax dodging while enriching lawyers and accountants.
2. Job-killing tax breaks for outsourcing. The Republican tax plan would lower the U.S. tax rate on offshore profits to zero, giving corporations an incentive to move American jobs offshore.
3. Medicaid and Medicare benefit cuts. Republican leaders in Congress already have signaled that once they’re done increasing the deficit with their wasteful tax boondoggle, they plan to use the deficit as an excuse to cut Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. The Republican budget already would cut Medicaid and Medicare by $1.5 trillion—the same price tag as the tax bill.
4. Tax increases for millions of working people. The average household making less than $75,000 would pay more in taxes by the year 2027. In all, 70 million households making less than $100,000 eventually would pay more.
5. Partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act. By partially repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), the tax bill would mean health care premiums in the individual market would rise by 10%, 13 million people would lose health insurance, and as many as 15,000 or more people would die every year.
6. Cuts to public education. By limiting the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, the Republican tax bill would reduce state and local funding for education, infrastructure and other essential public services we all depend on. A new backdoor school voucher program would give tax breaks for tuition at private K–12 schools. Republican leaders in Congress also plan to use the deficit they created as an excuse to cut federal funding for education and other essential services.
7. Taking sides. While corporations still could deduct their payments to lawyers to fight unions, working people no longer could deduct union dues or such work-related expenses as travel, work clothes, work-related education, work tools or work supplies.

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Reposted from the AFL-CIO