I, like millions of other Americans, support comprehensive tax reform, but I do not support the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” currently being debated in Washington.

This irresponsible bill will add about $1.5 trillion to the national deficit and could add as much as $1.7 trillion. Multiple reliable analyses of the proposal show that the real beneficiaries of the tax cuts will be corporations and the very wealthy and that many middle class taxpayers will actually see a tax increase. The bill will also throw some 13 million Americans off of medical insurance and increase premiums for many millions more.

The GOP is relying on blatant lies and magical thinking about economic growth to pretend there won’t be massive increases to the deficit and debt, and is using gimmicks to make it look like the changes in the law will cost less down the road even as the individual tax cuts are later eliminated.

Not surprisingly, before the legislation is even enacted Republicans are making the case that their huge tax cuts will require sacrifices from poor and middle class Americans in the form of cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) told reporters Wednesday that the Republican tax cuts will inevitably lead to the gutting of America’s social safety net.

Despite the fact that Americans oppose (by a 2 to 1 margin) giving the wealthy and corporations massive tax breaks, the GOP is rushing ahead simply to achieve a legislative victory and to appease their wealthy campaign donors. Using the same old rhetoric, Republican leaders falsely claim that these tax cuts will create jobs and cut the federal deficit, knowing full well that “trickle down” economics does not work.

The House and Senate must establish a committee to reconcile differences between the respective bills. Most of those differences have to do with how much “relief” will be given to corporations and the wealthy, not how the middle class will benefit.

As the Republicans try to reconcile the differences between these bills, there is still time to put pressure on lawmakers to derail and abandon this disastrous tax scam.

Call Senators Bob Casey (1-866-802-2833) and Pat Toomey (1-855-552-1831) as well as your Congressman (1-877-795-7862). Tell them to oppose the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” and any other tax “reform” that gives massive breaks to the wealthy at the expense of the rest of Americans.

David B. Kyle

New Columbia

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