By Joseph Crowley
The neighborhood I grew up in was marked by a sense of community. It was more than a set of city blocks; it was a place where families and friends helped and looked out for one another. Through good times and bad, neighbors did the best they could to put food on the table, save some money and help their kids get a leg up in the world.
Those goals are now at risk. The Republican tax bill has put neighborhoods like Queens and the Bronx – the very communities we should protect – in danger.
Senate and House Republicans are on the verge of passing a tax bill that would devastate the people who live in my neighborhood – teachers, police officers, college students, seniors and many others.
Now, some have accused Democrats of being bombastic and over-the-top in our response to this tax proposal. Republicans have claimed that this tax bill isn’t actually the end of the world for these families.
They couldn’t be more wrong.
This tax bill would severely hurt working- and middle-class families in Queens and the Bronx. It would raise taxes by $1,200 on many of the people who worked hardest to build our country. It would stop teachers from deducting the money they spend on their own to stock their classrooms. And it would force seniors into choosing cut-rate care because they couldn’t afford the quality care they deserve.
This isn’t tax reform. It’s highway robbery. It’s Republicans’ attempt to grab money from working Americans so they can lavish tax breaks on corporate special interests and their donors.
Democrats have pushed back against this bill for months. No Democrats in the House or the Senate voted for this scam tax bill when it came to the floor. In the Ways and Means Committee, Democrats desperately tried to amend the bill so it couldn’t be so disastrous for working men and women.
I specifically offered or supported dozens of amendments, such as one that would have saved New Yorkers $73 billion by preserving the state and local tax deduction, and one that would have put real money in the pockets of renters who pay more than 30 percent of their income in rent.
Republicans rejected them all.
It’s clear that the Republican strategy reeks of desperation. The GOP is so desperate to claim a legislative victory – any victory – that they are trying to pass a tax bill in the dead of night without even knowing what’s in it. But, in effect, all they’re doing is killing the American dream with a plan to raise taxes and put health care out of reach for millions of Americans.
This bill goes after working Americans’ every last dollar and cent. And for what? To claim what Republicans call a “legislative victory”? To make sure their Republican donors keep paying? All at the expense of Americans’ health and well-being?
That is outrageous.
Now is the time to make your voice heard. We can defeat the final bill if Republicans in places like New York, California, or Pennsylvania realize that the middle-class will not allow them to be shortchanged just so the GOP can claim a fleeting political win.
I promise you, Democrats will spend the next weeks fighting against this bill, and fighting for you.
U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley
Chairman, House Democratic Caucus
Jackson Heights
