In reaction to today’s release of President Trump’s new tax reform proposal, Raymond C. Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America, made the following statement:
“Under the guise of giving average Americans a tax break, President Trump’s tax plan is a boondoggle that benefits large companies and the wealthiest among us. This plan looks like candidate Trump’s campaign plan, but with fewer details. It is not reform, it is rigged reform.
“Rather than crack down on the more than $100 billion in annual corporate tax dodging, the proposal rewards large companies that stash their profits offshore. His plan will balloon the deficit and ordinary folks will soon suffer from his proposed budget cuts to pay for expensive giveaways to the rich and powerful.
“The cost of this tax reform plan will likely be in the trillions over the next decade, so it must also be considered and understood in the context of the Trump Administration’s proposals to dramatically slash the federal budget, in part to help pay for these tax cuts. President Trump’s budget would severely cut or abolish programs that provide low-income Americans with affordable housing, job training, energy assistance, rehabilitated homes in neighborhoods hard-hit by foreclosures, and food delivery to homebound seniors. At a time of unprecedented global crisis, with 65 million people forced to flee their homes and up to four famines looming, the cuts would also devastate US leadership in saving lives and helping the world’s poorest and most vulnerable.
“This plan is exactly the opposite of what most Americans say they want. Worse yet, it would increase inequality here at home and around the world.
“The ball is now in the hands of our members of Congress. If they are looking for a comprehensive plan to increase the disparity between the rich and poor, this is a pretty good starting point. But any elected official seeking to responsibly represent the interests of working people in America and be able to say they care about the poor around the world should reject this rigged agenda.
“Candidate Trump insisted that every decision he would make on taxes would benefit American workers and American families. Real reform would focus on cracking down on the tax dodging by corporations that costs America $135 billion ever year, not reward it.”
