If you read this site, you know the Republican tax bill is shortsighted, cruel and stupid. You know that, even though it was sold to us as a middle class tax cut, the truth is, tax cuts for the middle class are small and temporary, while the tax cuts for billionaires and corporations are large and permanent. You know that, if passed in its most current form, the Republican tax plan would, among other terrible things, add nearly $1.5 Trillion to the national debt, raise taxes on the middle class, take health care from 13 million Americans, decimate higher education, and, through the elimination of the estate tax, pave the way for development of a true American aristocracy.
The question is, what can we do to stop it, now that it appears as though the Republicans may have the votes they need to pass it into law.
Before we get to that, though, here’s where we stand right now, process-wise… The House version of the bill, as you may recall, passed several weeks ago, meaning that the battle has transitioned to the Senate, where it looks as though Republicans have finally started to convince themselves that passing something – even a bad bill that fucks a majority of their voters – is better than passing nothing at all. [They haven’t, after all, passed a single piece of legislation into law over the past year, even though they’ve had control over the House, the Senate and the White House.] And, of course, as we’ve discussed before, their donors have made it clear that they won’t continue to write checks unless this is done. [The Republicans in Congress have admitted as much.] So, given all of that, the Senate version of the bill just passed through the Senate Budget Committee this afternoon with a 12-11 vote along party lines. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Bob Corker of Tennessee, both of whom had threatened to oppose the bill, ended up voting to pass it out of committee, moving it to the floor of the Senate, where it’s expected that there will be a vote Wednesday on whether or not to proceed. Assuming a majority vote to proceed, members of the Senate can then begin offering and debating amendments to the bill. And, if all goes according to the Republican plan, there could be a final vote as early as Friday. If they don’t get it done on Friday, though, they still have approximately one week. If they miss that window, though, they might be sunk, as it looks as though we might be facing a government shutdown on December 8. And, on December 12, assuming the people of Alabama decide to do the right thing and vote for the non-pedophile on the ballot, the dynamics of the Senate could be considerably different. [If you can, please consider joining me and sending a few dollars to Doug Jones, the man opposing Roy Moore in that incredibly important Senate race.]
So, now, here are a few things you can do right now.
1. Wherever you live, log into Indivisible’s new Trump Tax Scam site, which is full of great, state-specific information and resources, and start making calls to the offices of your Senators using their cal scripts.
Here, to give you an idea of what you’ll find when you visit the site, is what they have to say about Michigan, where I live.
[Just follow the “Michigan” link above, and you’ll find information like what’s above about your state, but with clickable links, call scripts, and any number of other cool, helpful tools and resources. If you want, they’ll even give you the number of a left-leaning person in a state with Republican Senators, so you can encourage them to call their offices.]
Remember, nothing is as effective as calling the offices of your elected officials, except maybe showing up in person… Speaking of which, the arrests in DC have already begun.
#BREAKING: Protesters disrupting Senate Budget Committee hearing #GOPTaxScam #NotOnePenny pic.twitter.com/nx0J0LcMGv
— AmpliFire News (@amplifirenews_) November 28, 2017
And, remember, just because you live in a state that has Democratic Senators, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be making calls, either to your Senators, demanding that they do more to slow the progress of the bill, or to your friends and family members in other states, asking that they place calls to their Senators. Try minute you spend on the phone today will make a difference.
2. Go on Facebook and post the following question: “Who do I know in Arizona, Maine, Tennessee, Montana, Wisconsin, or Alaska?”
Then, when you start hearing back from people in those states, explain to them what’s at stake, and ask that they please take a minute and call the offices of John McCain (Arizona), Jeff Flake (Arizona), Susan Collins (Maine), Bob Corker (Tennessee), Steve Daines (Montana), Ron Johnson (Wisconsin) or Lisa Murkowski (Alaska). There are other Republican Senators that might be in play as well, as you can see from this new Washington Post graphic, but these are the seven that I’m focusing on, given what they’ve said on the record about their reservations concerning either the bill itself, the shady process whereby it came to the Senate floor, or the fact that it raises the deficit. [McCain, for instance, has said that he would vote against any bill that didn’t follow “regular order,” which this bill surely hasn’t. So Im encouraging everyone I know in Arizona to remind him of this fact.] And, remember, we just need three of them to flip, like McCain, Murkowksi and Collins did during the health care debate, to make this whole thing crumble. [I should add, I’m not adverse to comprehensive tax reform. I think it could be a good thing. I just think this particular bill is terrible is terrible for the working men and women of our country.]
[Just follow the “new Washington Post graphic” link above to be taken to the interactive series of graphics, which will show you what each of these Senators has said on the record about this bill on which they’ll be voting.]
3. Troll the Senate Republicans mercilessly on social media.
It may not be as effective as a polite but forceful call placed by a constituent, but, after doing everything else that needs to be done, I’ve found it cathartic to just spend a few minutes on Twitter, reminding folks like Bob Corker what they’ve said in the past about how they’d never vote in favor of a tax bill that would raise the deficit, etc. [The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has forecasted that the Republican tax bill, if passed into law, would increase the federal deficit by $1.4 Trillion over 10 years.] Here, to give you an idea as to how I’ve gone about it, is something that I tweeted to John McCain earlier today. [He’s yet to respond.]
4. Ask Resistbot for assistance.
I know calls are more effective than emails and texts when it comes to things like this, but I signed up for Resistbot earlier today, and it helped me to shoot out a few messages to my Senators. So, if you can’t make calls, and you have access to a smartphone, give it a shot. Here, if it helps, is what I sent out. [If I were to do it again, I’d explicitly ask for them to “withhold consent” to slow down the process, as was a tactic used effectively during the last health care fight. And, of course, I’d correct the grammar.]
5. Just talk with people.
It’s probably a good thing to do anyway, right? We should all be talking more. And not just with people we already know. We should be more open to conversations about these things. And we should be ready, when opportunities present themselves, to share facts about what’s going on. And, in this case, it’s really not all that hard, as the facts are on our side. The middle class tax cuts are temporary. The corporate tax cuts aren’t. It’s that simple. They’re lying to us, and they’re raising our taxes in order to hand over billions of dollars to America’s most wealthy. It’s that simple… So, if you’re at the barbershop today, standing in line at the grocery store, or picking your kid up from school, and you see an opportunity to mention what’s going on, give it a shot. Sure, it could lead to an awkward conversation with a Fox News watcher, but we owe it to future generations to at least try, right?
If you have other ideas for how people can get involved, please leave a comment. And, if you feel so inclined, please share this link on social media.
