Statement by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on Tax Day:
This January, House Speaker Paul Ryan proudly declared, “Tax reform is working.” He’s right—if a windfall for corporations funded by working families is his twisted idea of working.
This Tax Day, the false promises made to working people are being exposed for the lies that they are. While Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin claimed that 90% of Americans would see an increase in take-home pay, most Americans haven’t seen a single cent. And while Ryan boasted about a coming flood of bonuses and raises, less than 1% of businesses have shared their tax cuts with their employees. Overall, corporations quietly pocketed $238 billion while only offering a small fraction to the workers who make their profits possible.
Every tax season, millions of working people sit at our kitchen tables, ready to pay our fair share. But the tax scam bill is funnelling our hard-earned money into the pockets of a few powerful CEOs, many of whom pay next to nothing themselves.
If politicians in Washington want tax reform to truly work, they should focus on investing it on new roads, affordable health care, fair wages for public workers and all of our nation’s urgent priorities.
Contact: John Weber (202) 637-5018