People Power Can Still Stop The Tax Theft, Here’s How

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People Power Can Still Stop The Tax Theft, Here’s How

December 6th, 2017

Awake Goy

Above Photo: From citizenvox.org

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Note: Robert Weissman, the executive director of Public Citizen, which wrote the lobbyist report described below, writes in Common Dreams where describes how we can stop the #GOPTaxScam from becoming law: massive public mobilization that makes very clear the culprits will be held accountable. If two senators switch on the final bill, the tax bill will be defeated.The public must understand the theft being undertaken for the wealthy and corporations as well as understand what is at stake and mobilize to stop it. The people can still win, but they must mobilize aggressively.

Weissan thinks it is critical to hold the culprits accountable. He points to the Trump and his administration, leaders of the House and Senate as well as Senators John McCain, Susan Collins, Marco Rubio and Jeff Flake.

Weissman correctly concludes “There are only days or weeks to go before both houses will vote on a reconciled bill. And there’s only one way to stop the legislation from becoming law: massive public mobilization that makes very clear the culprits will be held to account.”

The article below is about the immense lobbying effort by corporate powers to get this tax theft as far as it has gotten so far. These are the corporations that the people are up against. We need agitation and anger at those responsible for this monstrosity. The time now is not to give up, it is to double our efforts. (Call Congress at 202-224-3121 and tell the culprits, listed above, they will be held accountable.)

More Than Half the Members of Washington’s Lobbying Corps Have Plunged Into the Tax Debate

More than half of the federal lobbyists active in 2017 have worked on tax issues, according to a report issued today by Public Citizen that analyzes lobbying disclosure data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics (www.opensecrets.org).

Among the findings of the report, “Swamped”:

A total of 6,243 lobbyists have been listed on lobbying disclosure forms as working on issues involving the word “tax” in 2017. That equals 57 percent of the lobbyists who have reported any lobbying activity in 2017 and is equivalent to more than 11 lobbyists for every member of Congress.
Each of the 20 organizations hiring the most lobbyists on tax issues reported working on “tax reform” specifically, meaning their lobbying was relevant to the ongoing debate on overhauling the tax code. Corporate tax rates, repatriation of corporate profits, intra-organizational transfers of assets, deductibility of interest, and depreciation rules were among frequently listed topics among the organizations.
Twenty corporations and trade associations have hired at least 50 lobbyists apiece. The organization hiring the most lobbyists to work on tax issues was the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (100). The Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs of the nation’s largest corporations, deployed 51 lobbyists.
Twenty-six industry sectors have hired at least 150 lobbyists each to work on tax issues, led by pharmaceuticals (653) and insurance (600).
Five corporations have hired at least 15 separate lobbying firms in additional to their in-house lobbyists to work for them on tax issues so far in 2017: Comcast Corp. (23 firms), Anheuser-Busch (19), Verizon Communications, (17), Microsoft (16) and Altria Group (15).
Thirty-one lobbyists with ties to President Donald Trump or Vice President Mike Pence (mostly through working on the Trump campaign or transition) have worked on tax issues in 2017.

With their enormous complexity and high-stakes, tax issues are the buffet that keeps Washington’s swamp creatures fed.

The success of the nation’s largest corporations and wealthiest interests in shaping the tax debate to serve their interests shows that bankrolling the lobbyists’ feast is a small bill to pay in the grand scheme, emphasis on scheme.

Source Article from https://popularresistance.org/people-power-can-still-stop-the-tax-theft-heres-how/