PRESS CONTACT:
Elliot Levy
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New York – Following the vote in Congress approving the GOP tax bill, Stosh Cotler, CEO of Bend the Arc Jewish Action, released the following statement:
“The tax plan passed by Congress today is nothing short of a moral catastrophe. It provides obscene tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy and leaves behind millions of middle- and low-income families across the country. To make matters worse, Republicans are already using the massive deficits this bill will create to justify deep, disastrous cuts to essential programs like Medicaid and nutrition assistance that help ordinary Americans afford basic needs.
“The members of Congress who voted in support of this bill should be ashamed of how it pits those who have plenty against those who have less. Economists agree that it solves no pressing policy concerns. And yet, at the behest of their major donors, Republicans are taking this extraordinary step to increase income inequality and destabilize our country.
“The American Jewish community’s opposition to this kind of policy is clear. Eighty-one percent of Jews favor increasing taxes on millionaires, while this bill slashes rates for millionaires and billionaires and abandons everyone else. Bend the Arc Jewish Action will hold accountable those lawmakers who voted today to benefit the rich and powerful at the expense of poor and working families.”
Bend the Arc Jewish Action has been a leader on tax fairness in the Jewish community. The group’s ‘If I Were A Rich Man’ tour organized young progressive Jews to travel across the country advocating for morally sound budget and tax policies. Bend the Arc also joined with other national organizations in signing a letter urging Congress not to repeal the estate tax. Bend the Arc’s sister organization, Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, has also been active on tax fairness campaigns and advocacy efforts in California, and joined nearly 100 faith organizations in writing Congress in defense of the Johnson Amendment, which an earlier version of the bill would have repealed.
