Here’s What We Need to Think About and Do Now That Republicans Have Passed Tax Cuts for the Wealthy

(Oh, and the “Tea” in Tea Party didn’t stand for “taxed enough already,” it stood for racism.)

In the dark of night – actually, just before 2 AM Saturday – Republicans in the Senate passed a historic tax-cuts-for-the-wealthy bill that adds $1.4 trillion to the deficit and raises taxes on lower-income and moderate-income Americans, will cause 13 million to lose their health care coverage, while expanding tax subsidies for operators of private planes and cruise liners. 

And that’s just for starters.

It’s practically impossible to offer a detailed list of the horrors of the Republicans’ deceptively-named “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” because not a single person, at least in Congress, has read it. It’s nearly 500 pages long, was released at 8 PM Friday night, then altered – with hand written notes – before being voted on and passed by 51 of the Senate’s 52 Republicans.

Just one Republican, Bob Corker of Tennessee, and every single Democrat, voted against it.

So what do we do now?

Well, a few things.

First, the House still needs to vote on it after it comes out of conference, with even more adjustments made. The Senate may have to vote on it again too, depending on what changes are made to the legislation.

So, first snd foremost, you should continue (or start) to call your Senators – both of them, regardless of their party affiliation, and your Member of Congress. It’s easy: just call the Capitol Hill Switchboard at (202) 224-3121, say where you live, and the operator will connect you with the right person. (Be nice to the operators, they have a very hard and thankless job!)

So that’s three calls you should make, and make first thing Monday, as soon as you can. 

You should also decide if you think Democrats should consider shutting down the government over this bill – we could, if enough House Democrats decided they wanted to. Think about his: CHIP, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, has gone unfunded now for more than two months. Kids are losing their health insurance because Congress has not bothered to act. Trump promised Democratic leaders “Chuck and Nancy” that they would all join together to save DACA recipients and get an immigration bill though Congress in a few weeks. That was over a month ago. And then, of course, there’s the GOP tax bill, aka #GOPTaxScam.

You decide if you want to ask your congressional representatives to shut down the government over these issues. 

In the meanwhile, I think it’s time that Democrats ramp up the fight. We may have lost this battle (and maybe not), but let’s be very clear what the war is about.

It’s about whether or not we want to live in a country that respects the idea that everyone is equal. It’s about whether we want to live in a country that recognizes all people at some point in their lives need some extra help. It’s about whether or not we want to live in a country that says if you’ve benefitted from the efforts of those who came before you, of those who are working hard for your freedoms now, of those who will help in the future, you owe it to them and to your country to pay a little more so others can have the same opportunities you did.

And it’s about whether or not we want to live in a country that believes votes shouldn’t go to the highest bidder, that K Street lobbyists shouldn’t be able to decide the future of America, that people and corporations with the deepest pockets shouldn’t be able to get their way because they can afford to spend more to grease the wheels.

Which means our number one goal, as Americans, regardless of party, should be to vote out of office every single Republican in the House and Senate who voted for this monstrosity they call a tax cut bill. The move has already begun:

Think about these ideas and consider some of these below that others have made in the aftermath of what will go down in history as one of the most damaging acts in modern American history.

And share them. Let’s start using some of these phrases and concepts and ideas to fight back. We may have lost this battle (maybe not, it’s not over yet), but we can make clear that the Republican Party an immoral cult devoid of any semblance of the American idea.

I truly believe the future of the nation is at stake, right now, today.

It’s time to start calling Republicans “tax and spend Republicans.”

Never again can we allow tax and spend Republicans to get away with saying America cannot afford a good program, like ObamaCare, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, single-payer health care, education, “welfare” programs, etc.

The Tea Party just proved what we all knew: “Tea” didn’t stand for “taxed enough already,” it stood for racism:

We all know what works, we’ve all seen it this year, starting with the historic Women’s March on January 21. Protests work. Go out and but some cardboard and markers today and get ready to fight.

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Image via Kat Brezler/Twitter

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