Tax Cuts for the Rich are Threatening Our Retirement Security
The Joint Committee on Taxation, a non-partisan Committee of the United States Congress, originally established under the Revenue Act of 1926, and is Congress’ official estimator of tax legislation, reported that a lopsided 38 percent of the benefits of the tax bill that the president signed in December 2017 (H.R. 1) will go to households making more than $1 million per year (approximately 3 of every 1,000 Americans who file taxes). 1
Though backers of the law said the tax cuts would pay for themselves, a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office shows that under the new tax law the nation’s debt could spike by $33 trillion over the next ten years, potentially resulting in another debt crisis. 2
With wages being stagnant for nearly three decades, you might be asking yourself how hard-working Americans are going to find the money to pay for this expensive law which benefits so few.
The answer – according to some in Congress – cuts to Social Security and Medicare, of course! As Pennsylvania Republican Senator Pat Toomey explained, “(t)hese big spending programs that are growing faster than the economy,”…“you’ve got to make some curbs.” That’s easy to say when the people who funded his campaign are the ones seeing the biggest benefit from H.R. 1. 3
However, not everyone is on board with the idea. On September 23, 2018, it was announced that 19 U.S. Senators and 140 House members have added their name to a new Expand Social Security Caucus being led by Senators Bernie Sanders (VT), Elizabeth Warren (MA), and Democratic Reps. John Larson and Debbie Dingell of Michigan. 4
As union members, we believe every American deserves a secure retirement. We also understand that Social Security and Medicare are programs that workers have paid into our entire lives. We won’t forget this when we vote in the pivotal midterm elections which conclude on Tuesday, November 6.
Sources:
Julie Stein, SOAR Director
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