Washington, DC – Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a senior member of the House Committees on Judiciary and Homeland Security, Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations, and Member of the House Budget Committee, issued the following statement about the reckless GOP Tax Scam:

“In an unconscionable and reckless act, Congressional Republicans passed, and the President signed into law, the so-called “Tax Cut and Jobs Act,” which more accurately should be called the “Republican Tax Scam Act” because it raises taxes on tens of millions of middle class households, distribute huge tax cuts to those in the top 1%, and add $1.7 trillion to our national debt.

“With each passing day, new facts and evidence demolish utterly the claims made by the President and congressional Republicans that the TaxScam would lead to an economic renaissance creating millions of jobs, turbo charging the economy, reducing the national debt and balancing the budget.

“Instead the facts are that barely 4 percent of American workers have seen any kind of one-time bonus or wage increase. According to a new CBS poll, more than 60 percent of American voters say the GOP tax scam will either have a negative impact or no effect at all on their families. Meanwhile, pharmaceutical companies are hoarding multi-billion dollar tax scam savings, spending tens of billions buying back their stock shares to enrich wealthy shareholders while continuing to raise drug prices on seniors and families. We see daily wealthy corporations reaping massive windfalls from the giveaways in the GOP tax scam and which are expected to spend $1 trillion on dividends and stock buybacks at the same time they are announcing tens of thousands of layoffs and are shipping jobs overseas.

“The highly respected and non-partisan Congressional Budget Office found that the reckless giveaways of the unpaid-for Trump Republican tax scam and their reckless and irresponsible fiscal policies have added $2 trillion to the national debt, which they are now using as the pretext for supporting a federal budget that contains massive and devastating cuts to Medicare ($500 million), Medicaid ($1.4 trillion), and Social Security ($72 billion). In addition to slashing Medicare spending, Republicans also want to end the Medicare guarantee – replacing Medicare’s guaranteed benefits, upon which seniors now rely, with a voucher. This privatization of Medicare would lead to a dramatic increase in out-of-pocket costs for seniors. Republicans have a similar partial privatization plan for Social Security.

“The GOP Tax Scam eliminates or reduces tax benefits that directly benefit the middle class at every stage of life, by taking away health insurance coverage from 13 million Americans; adding $2 trillion to the national debt and $1 trillion annual deficits; and triggering automatic PAYGO spending cuts to mandatory programs such as Medicare, which alone would see a $25 billion cut.

“Instead of engaging in a bipartisan effort to achieve real tax reform, Republicans find new ways to game the taxpayer system by adding new loopholes that are only for corporations and the wealthy. But Americans are not fooled and know trickle-down economics has never worked. Americans see right through this phony tax plan and recognize it for the scam that it is.

“While super-wealthy corporations and individuals reap windfalls, millions of middle-class and working families will see their taxes go up. On average, families earning up to $86,000 annually will see a $794 increase in their tax liability, a significant burden on families struggling to afford child care and balance their checkbook.

“Under the Republican TaxScam, the total value of tax cuts for just the top one percent is more than the entire tax cut for the lower 95 percent of earners. Put another way, those earning more than $912,000 a year will get more in tax cuts than 180 million households combined.

“To achieve their goal of giving more and more to the haves and the “have mores,” Republicans are willing to betray seniors, children, the most vulnerable and needy, and working and middle-class families. The $5.4 trillion cuts in program investments that will be required to pay for this tax giveaway to wealthy corporations and individuals will fall most heavily on low-income families, students struggling to afford college, seniors, and persons with disabilities.

“America will not be made great by financing a $1.7 trillion tax cut for the rich by stealing $1.9 trillion from Medicare and Medicaid, slashing Social Security and abandoning seniors and families in need, depriving students of realizing a dream to attend college without drowning in debt, or disinvesting in working families. The GOP TaxScam is not a plan, but a scam that represents a betrayal of our American values.”