Dear MoveOn member,
BREAKING: House Republicans just passed one of the worst bills ever considered by Congress. Now, the fight moves to the Senate. We have to launch an urgent, all-hands-on-deck campaign to stop this bill from becoming law, so I am asking you to chip in right now to help us do it.
This is an emergency, and there is no time to waste.
The GOP tax scam has always been terrible, but this week things got worse—much, much worse. It is not even fair to call this a "tax bill" anymore—it is now a backroom deal to destroy the Affordable Care Act, throw trillions of dollars at the GOP’s wealthy and corporate donors, and raise taxes on tens of millions of folks in the middle class.
And now, we've learned that the Senate version of the bill will include a repeal of the individual mandate requirement from the Affordable Care Act, which would rip health care from 13 million Americans, raise premiums by double digits for millions of others, and likely send the health care markets into a death spiral.1
Why are they doing this? Two reasons: First, it gives them one more shot to repeal Obamacare under the radar, without even introducing a plan to replace it. Second, they realized that, on paper, cutting the mandate superficially helps lower the massive deficits caused by their terrible bill, which may convince some Republican senators to vote yes.2
What they are doing is unconscionable, but it might work. There has not been the same amount of outrage about this bill as there was during the health care fight over the summer, and Republicans are counting on that lack of attention giving them the cover they need to pass this bill.
- We're melting down the phone lines in Washington, D.C., just like we did to defeat Trumpcare, using our innovative tools and targeting to drive constituent calls to key members of Congress. We have also mobilized a volunteer team to text hundreds of thousands of voters across the country and urge them to call key members of Congress.
- We're organizing calls with MoveOn members to beat back this horrible legislation. We held a national organizing call with Sen. Bernie Sanders last night, just one day after the attack on health care was announced—to direct thousands of MoveOn members and allies into meaningful action.
- We're launching a Week of Action November 29-December 2—where MoveOn members will organize hundreds of events around the country, outside congressional offices, and public spaces, to elevate the stories of constituents who will be hurt by this bill and build pressure on Congress to vote no.
- We're gearing up for mega rallies. For example, on Trumpcare, we ran huge rallies with Bernie Sanders in key states, where Republican senators and House members may be wavering—to drive media about grassroots outrage and spur on more calls and actions. And we're laying the groundwork for high-profile rallies before Congress can finalize this bill.
- We're producing videos, petitions, and social media content that drive home the costs of this tax scam—elevating constituents who would lose health care, middle-income families whose taxes would rise, and veterans, teachers, grad students and others who would pay more so the GOP can give corporations a giveaway.
- And we're organizing rapid response actions in D.C. to make sure every Republican knows they will be held accountable if they vote to take health care from 13 million Americans, or to give 36 million middle income families a tax increase to pay for giveaways to corporations and billionaires.
Time is short. Click here to chip in $3 to help our emergency campaign now.
Thanks for all you do.
—Anna, Kelly, Vicki, Pulin and the rest of the team
P.S. This is a five-alarm fire, and we have to do everything we can to stop it. That means driving thousands of calls to members of Congress in key districts, creating ads, hosting events, and supporting other allies on the ground—just as we did over the summer to successfully stop those attempts at a health care repeal.
But all of that takes substantial funds, and we don’t have a lot of time to build up our reserves. Both the House and the Senate are planning to push this bill through before they leave for the holidays in early December. So if you made calls, organized, or donated during the last health care fight, we need you now.
P.P.S. Don't forget: Not only does this bill destroy the Affordable Care Act, it also,
- provides trillions of dollars in tax breaks to corporations and the ultra wealthy, while the majority of Americans making less than $100,000 a year will see no benefit or even have their taxes increased;3
- will trigger a $25 billion cut to Medicare and deep cuts to Medicaid, due to the deficits that are created by the giveaways to corporations and the rich;4
- cuts the medical expense deduction, which helps 9 million people with high medical costs—such as seniors in care facilities, parents of children with disabilities, and people with chronic conditions—many of whom are already struggling to get by5; and
- even cuts the deduction used by teachers who pay for classroom supplies out of their own pocket. But don’t worry, corporations will still be able to deduct supply purchases from their taxes.6
Click here to chip in $3 to our emergency campaign now.
Sources:
1. "House Passes Tax Bill in Major Step Toward Overhaul," The New York Times, November 16, 2017 https://act.moveon.org/go/25161?t=8&akid=193593%2E10220574%2EKTWcTd
2. Ibid
4. "The Republican tax bill could force billions of dollars in cuts to programs like Medicare," Business Insider, November 15, 2017
http://act.moveon.org/go/24948?t=12&akid=193593%2E10220574%2EKTWcTd
5. "GOP tax bill would eliminate medical expense deductions," The Hill, November 2, 2017
http://act.moveon.org/go/24949?t=14&akid=193593%2E10220574%2EKTWcTd
6. "Teachers spend nearly $500 a year on supplies. Under the GOP tax bill, they will no longer get a tax deduction." The Washington Post, November 2, 2017
https://act.moveon.org/go/24950?t=16&akid=193593%2E10220574%2EKTWcTd
Want to support MoveOn's work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?
Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.
PAID FOR BY MOVEON
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