{"id":17979,"date":"2017-11-09T22:01:26","date_gmt":"2017-11-10T03:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/?p=17979"},"modified":"2022-07-13T11:53:46","modified_gmt":"2022-07-13T15:53:46","slug":"say-no-fake-tax-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/say-no-fake-tax-reform\/","title":{"rendered":"Say No to Fake Tax Reform"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a name=\"top\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h6><span style=\"color: #999999\">Updated as of January, 9, 2018<\/span><\/h6>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-10796\" src=\"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/money-over-mouth-300x202.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"325\" height=\"219\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/money-over-mouth-300x202.png 300w, https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/money-over-mouth.png 838w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 325px) 100vw, 325px\" \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>A bill has been passed. Check back for updates.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>Page Contents <\/strong>(click on a title to go to that section)<strong>:<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h4><strong><a href=\"#action\">Action Needed NOW: What You Can Do<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><strong><a href=\"#happening\">What You Should Know<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><strong><a href=\"#spiritual\">Our UU Spiritual Grounding<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><strong><a href=\"#resources\">Resources and Relevant News Media Coverage Links<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a name=\"action-needed\"><\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a name=\"action\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: #333399\"><strong>Action Needed NOW: What You Can Do<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>For more information, see the <a href=\"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/website-sample-and-TP-Tax-letter-leave-behind-as-of-2017-12-19.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">UUSJ sample message to Senators and talking points<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #993300\"><strong>1 &#8211; Contact your Senators<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><b>Suggested message by phone or email:<\/b><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #993366\"><em>Hi, my name is [your name] I\u2019m a constituent from [city, state].\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #993366\"><em>I am a Unitarian Universalist from [name of congregation and location]. My faith guides me\u00a0to\u00a0strongly oppose the <\/em>Tax Cuts and Jobs Act<em>\u00a0because\u00a0it increases economic inequity and calls for the partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act which will hurt the most vulnerable.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #993366\"><em>Tell [senator] to vote \u201cno\u201d on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.<\/em><\/span><span style=\"color: #993366\"><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #993366\"><em>Paying for large and permanent tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy by taking away healthcare from millions of Americans, eliminating social programs, and raising taxes for middle-class and low-income people and families\u00a0is not moral. It\u00a0worsens\u00a0the growing wealth divide.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #993366\"><i>Thank you.<\/i><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><b>Virginia:<\/b><br \/>\nSen. Mark Warner (202) 224-2023<br \/>\nSen. Tim Kaine (202) 224-4024<\/p>\n<p><b>Maryland:<\/b><br \/>\nSen. Ben Cardin (202) 224-4524<br \/>\nSen. Chris Van Hollen (202) 224-4654<\/p>\n<p><b>U.S. Capitol Switchboard:<\/b>\u00a0(202) 224-3121 or use\u00a0our partner, NETWORK\u2019s,\u00a0toll free hotline to the Senate, which they provided for a previous action (ignore the message) 1-888-738-3058<\/p>\n<p>To find\u00a0<b>e-mail addresses and other contact information for your members of Congress<\/b><b>,<\/b>\u00a0visit these Congressional websites:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.senate.gov\/general\/contact_information\/senators_cfm.cfm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>U.S.\u00a0<\/strong><b>Senate<\/b><\/a><\/li>\n<li><b><\/b><a style=\"font-family: inherit;background-color: #ffffff\" href=\"https:\/\/www.house.gov\/representatives\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>U.S.\u00a0<\/strong><b>House of Representatives<\/b><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><strong><span style=\"color: #993300\">2 \u2013\u00a0Ask your friends and family members to contact their Senators, too.<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Send them the link to this page \u2013\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/2jels7S\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/bit.ly\/2jels7S<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #993300\"><strong>3 \u2013<\/strong><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #993300\">Spread the word &#8211; Post messages to social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Post links to this page \u2013\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/2jels7S\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/bit.ly\/2jels7S<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cspan\/lists\/senators\/members?lang=en\">Tweet your Senators<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(click to find their Twitter handles).<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hashtags &#8211; #Faith4TaxJustice,<b>\u00a0<\/b>#TaxReform, #TaxPlan<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\"><a href=\"#top\">Go to the Top<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a name=\"happening\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #333399\"><b>What You Should Know<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>For more information, see the <a href=\"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/website-sample-and-TP-Tax-letter-leave-behind-as-of-2017-12-19.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">UUSJ sample message to Senators and talking points<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">The tax bill is bad policy and bad for the country.<\/span> <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;text-decoration: underline\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;text-decoration: underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/powerpost\/paloma\/the-finance-202\/2017\/11\/21\/the-finance-202-wall-street-to-washington-tax-cuts-are-sugar-high-that-don-t-promote-long-term-growth\/5a1330d830fb045a2e0032b2\/?tid=ss_tw&amp;utm_term=.2eb63557eaaa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Even Wall Street economists agree<\/a><\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #ff0000\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;text-decoration: underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/powerpost\/paloma\/the-finance-202\/2017\/11\/21\/the-finance-202-wall-street-to-washington-tax-cuts-are-sugar-high-that-don-t-promote-long-term-growth\/5a1330d830fb045a2e0032b2\/?tid=ss_tw&amp;utm_term=.2eb63557eaaa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Under Senate rules, a &#8220;yes&#8221; vote on this tax bill is also a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ff0000;text-decoration: underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.americanprogress.org\/issues\/economy\/news\/2017\/11\/21\/443207\/senate-tax-bill-eliminate-programs-farmers-crime-victims-elderly-children\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">vote to automatically eliminate programs<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span> for the elderly, children, funding for historically black colleges and universities, environmental protection, farmers, crime victims and more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #333399\">The Senate is under strict<span style=\"color: #ff0000\"> <strong><a style=\"color: #ff0000\" href=\"https:\/\/www.americanprogress.org\/issues\/economy\/reports\/2017\/08\/28\/437873\/potential-impact-paygo-rules-tax-legislation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&#8220;<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">PAYGO<\/span>&#8220;<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>rules to balance the tax cuts with automatic budget cuts to mandatory spending programs.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\"><a href=\"#top\">Go to the Top<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a name=\"spiritual\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #333399\"><b>Our UU Spiritual Grounding<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n<h4><b><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-10792 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/money-chalice.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"119\" height=\"119\" \/><\/b><\/h4>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uua.org\/action\/statements\/economic-injustice-poverty-and-racism-we-can-make-difference\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Economic Injustice, Poverty, and Racism<\/strong><\/a> &#8211;\u00a0<\/em>2000 Statement of Conscience<\/p>\n<p><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uua.org\/economic\/escalatinginequality\/escalating-inequality\">Escalating Economic\u00a0Inequity<\/a><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0&#8211; 2017 Statement of Conscience<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h5><em>Challenging extreme inequity locally and globally is a moral imperative. As a pragmatic faith we are committed to working to change economic and social systems with a goal of equitable outcomes of life, dignity, and well-being experienced by all. The escalation of income and wealth inequity undergirds many injustices that our faith movement is committed to addressing, including: economic injustice, mass incarceration, migrant injustice, climate change, sexual and gender injustice, and attacks on voting rights.<\/em><\/h5>\n<h5><em>Since the adoption of the 2000 Statement of Conscience on\u00a0Economic Injustice, Poverty, and Racism, economic inequality has escalated.\u00a0 We have experienced accumulation of debt, decreased support for growth and innovation, and increased concentration of wealth accompanied by wage stagnation for most of our population. In 2013, the average income of the wealthiest 20% of those in the U.S. was 15 times greater than that of the poorest 20% ($202,600 vs $13,100).\u00a0 In 2011, the average net assets (wealth) of the wealthiest 20% exceeded $630,000, while the net assets of the poorest 20% were negative $6,000. Furthermore, racial and class disparities in income and wealth increased.<\/em><\/h5>\n<h5><em>The growth of inequity does not happen by accident. It is a direct consequence of the decisions of those people who own and control the nation\u2019s and world\u2019s corporations and resources and their allies in government, who take for themselves the wealth created by the hands and minds of the many and the bounty of our fragile planet. Their actions and policies have led to the decline of labor unions, the increased cost of education and health care, and automation. Unlimited funding of campaigns by wealthy individuals and corporations, lack of access to conventional financial institutions, predatory lending, and flawed tax policies increase inequity and insecurity.\u00a0 In the political realm, corporate personhood and the focus on individualism (rather than the collective good) have also contributed to escalating inequity.<\/em><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\"><a href=\"#top\">Go to the Top<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a name=\"resources\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #333399\"><b>Resources and Relevant News Media Coverage Links<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\"><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/americansfortaxfairness.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Americans for Tax Fairness<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Friends Committee on National Legislation<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.taxpolicycenter.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tax Policy Center<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbpp.org\/topics\/tax-reform\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Center on Budget and Policy Priorities<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\"><a href=\"#top\">Go to the Top<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Updated as of January, 9, 2018 A bill has been passed. Check back for updates. Page Contents (click on a title to go to that section): Action Needed NOW: What You Can Do What You Should Know Our UU Spiritual Grounding Resources and Relevant News Media Coverage Links Action Needed NOW: What You Can Do &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/say-no-fake-tax-reform\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Say No to Fake Tax Reform<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,29,13,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advocacy","category-economic-justice","category-politics","category-unitarian-universalism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17979"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24782,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17979\/revisions\/24782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}