All too often, the rich and powerful use their influence to manipulate the tax code and pass budgets that serve their interests at the expense of working people. They get greedy politicians to introduce tax bills as “tax reform,” but these bills aren’t about reforming our tax laws, they’re about giving more tax breaks to Wall Street, big corporations and millionaires and sticking working people with the bill.
Trillions of dollars are diverted to CEOs and Wall Street executives and companies that outsource jobs to other countries instead of being used for the public good, like fixing our crumbling bridges and schools, strengthening our public education system and improving our nation’s infrastructure.
Real tax reform should close the loopholes that give massive tax breaks to companies that outsource jobs and profits, and would ask millionaires and Wall Street to pay their fair share for once. That would allow us to make the kind of investments we need to create good jobs for working people now and in the future, while still being able to fund the critically important programs--like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid--that protect our nation's vulnerable.
The labor movement fights for the kind of tax and budget policies that meets the needs of working people, and fights against the ones that just lines the pockets of the wealthy and powerful.