WASHINGTON, DC – Today, after House Republicans released tax legislation giving massive tax cuts to millionaires and wealthy corporations, while raising taxes on too many moderate-income families, and blowing a $1.5 trillion hole in the deficit that could in turn force deep cuts to education, Medicare, and Medicaid, U.S. Senator Jack Reed issued the following statement:

“I have voted for plenty of middle-class tax cuts, but this bill is mainly for the rich – not the middle-class.  The Trump-Republican tax bill is all about rewarding the wealthiest at the expense of low- and middle-income households. 

“We need to prioritize tax cuts for working Americans.  Instead, the Trump-Republican tax scheme sells off tax breaks for people with student loans, high medical bills, or a child or parent in need of care – and gives all this and more to the ultra-wealthy.  It takes away some incentives for charitable giving, caps the mortgage deduction, and eliminates the deduction for state income taxes and sharply curtails the property tax deduction. 

“Based on a preliminary review, it appears that about 5,000 families in the entire U.S. stand to gain $269 billion over a decade from the Trump estate tax repeal.  Meanwhile, about 8 million families nationally – including 99,000 in Rhode Island – could see an average tax increase of $794. 

“Too many Rhode Islanders could lose out under the Republican-Trump tax plan, while corporations that have off-shored jobs would win big.  It is telling that Republicans wrote the bill in a way so some modest tax cuts for working parents sunset after five years while tax breaks for corporations and the estate tax repeal never expire.

“Over half of the proposed Trump tax cuts would go to the top one percent at the expense of the middle-class and our nation’s long-term fiscal health.  This is a blueprint for a radical agenda that sets in motion severe financial pressure that likely leads to the dismantling of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.  

“This plan sets up an inequitable tax system that is unfair and unsustainable.

“Republicans seem intent on trying to rush this through without thorough vetting because they know that the more people learn about how this bill really impacts them, the less they will like it. 

“I hope Republicans will learn some important lessons from their failed health care gambit and work with Democrats in a transparent, meaningful way on bipartisan initiatives that would cut taxes for middle-class Americans, help create jobs, and strengthen our economy.”