Call to Action: November 19, 2017
STOP THE TRUMP TAX SCAM’S ATTACK ON EDUCATION
#TrumpTaxScam
#NotOnePenny
#WhenWeFightWeWin
The GOP/Trump Tax Scam attacks education by eliminating key provisions that benefit students, teachers, and educational institutions.
It will:
• eliminate the deduction for student loan interest
• define tuition waivers as “income,” dramatically raising taxes for students and parents
• abolish or limit credits for children in college
• end the deduction for state and local taxes, undermining support for public education
• eliminate tax exempt bonds universities use for construction
• remove deductions for teachers who purchase school supplies
• tax university endowments
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/17/how-the-house-gop-tax-plan-affects-students-parents-and-universities.html
And where will the revenues “saved” by eliminating these important education benefits go? In a perverse example of “reverse Robin Hood,” they will be used to fund permanent tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest.
“These [existing] benefits ensure the best and brightest in the country can continue to afford an education,” said American Council on Education’s Steven Bloom. “Congress is sending a clear message that they’d rather use that money for corporate tax breaks.”
https://www.buzzfeed.com/amphtml/mollyhensleyclancy/grad-students-income-house-tax-bill
“A tax burden on that scale would be devastating,” MIT’s president declared.
We can’t let this happen!
Urge Senators Wyden and Merkley to derail the Trump Tax Scam!
**ACTION 1: CALL OUR SENATORS **
(Leave a message if you can’t get through.)
SAMPLE SCRIPT:
“My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling about the Trump/GOP Tax Scam’s attack on the American educational system. From the elimination of the deduction that teachers can take for purchasing school supplies to a new tax on tuition waivers provided to struggling graduate students, this Tax Scam is Robin Hood in reverse. It increases the taxes paid by people seeking to improve themselves and others through education and uses that revenue to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest and for corporations. I urge Senator [Merkley/Wyden] to do everything possible to derail the Trump/GOP Tax Scam. Thank you.”
**ACTION 2: SHARE WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY**
Share this post with friends and family, especially those in these key states with GOP senators who have expressed concerns about the bill – Arizona (Flake and McCain), Maine (Collins), Alaska (Murkowski), Tennessee (Corker), Wisconsin (Johnson), Oklahoma (Lankford). Help them call their Members of Congress.
SENATOR MERKLEY
Portland: (503) 326-3386, DC: (202) 224-3753
Salem: (503) 362-8102, Eugene: (541) 465-6750
Medford: (541) 608-9102, Bend: (541) 318-1298
Pendleton: (541) 278-1129
https://www.merkley.senate.gov/contact/
SENATOR WYDEN
Portland: (503) 326-7525, DC: (202) 224-5244
Salem: (503) 589-4555, Eugene: (541) 431-0229
Medford: (541) 858-5122, Bend: (541) 330-9142
La Grande: (541) 960-7691
https://www.wyden.senate.gov/contact/
