Patriotic Millionaires Slam New GOP Tax Package as a 'Moral and Economic Debacle Wrapped in an Orwellian Bow'

Today, the House Ways and Means Committee is marking up the American Families and Jobs Act, a tax package recently introduced by Republican members of the Committee that will, among other things, extend a number of the tax cuts enacted as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

In response, Morris Pearl, the Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires and a former managing director at BlackRock, Inc., released the following statement:

"Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith is trying to sell the American Families and Jobs Act as a win for working people and small businesses, but that’s a flat-out lie. Just like its predecessor, this GOP Tax Scam 2.0 will overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy and corporations and leave only crumbs for the poor. This legislation will give the poorest 20% of Americans $1.4 billion in tax cuts, while the top 1% of Americans alone will receive a whopping $28.4 billion in cuts.

Smith said that he and his GOP Ways and Means colleagues introduced the bill in response to the concerns raised from the people that they met on the “field hearings” that they conducted across the country. As it happens, we’ve been doing our own field hearings as part of our Great Economy Project. After talking to real workers - not handpicked people loaded up with Chamber of Commerce talking points - we can tell you that this package isn’t anywhere near what they or small businesses need or want. They want lawmakers to raise, not cut, taxes on the rich and mega-corporations, and to give real and lasting financial relief to working families that ensure they can cover their basic needs. The GOP is trying to placate them with a short-term expansion of the standard deduction, but rest assured, it’s only there to cover up the bill’s massive corporate giveaways.

For months, Republicans refused to raise the debt ceiling and held the entire global economy hostage until they extracted spending cuts to shrink the deficit. Now, just ten days after getting what they wanted, they are trying to pass a tax package that will explode the deficit by extending many of the 2017 Trump tax cuts for the rich and corporations.

If Republicans actually cared about deficits and doing what’s best for working people, then they would have never brought this bill to the floor in the first place. I’m left to assume this is what their rich friends are asking for, and they’re happy to oblige."

In response, Erica Payne, Founder and President of the Patriotic Millionaires, released the following statement:

“This new GOP tax package is a moral and economic debacle wrapped in an Orwellian bow. If the first bill that the House GOP introduced increases the deficit by defunding the IRS, you can rest assured that they don’t give a hoot about deficits.”