An Open Letter to Rep. Pat Meehan on the GOP Tax Plan
Dear Rep. Patrick Meehan,
I want to voice to you great concerns regarding the current tax packages in Congress. The legislation you have written and the Senate is about to pass will result in some of the most egregious and detrimental tax changes that have ever been inflicted upon the American public. Your actions will be economically disastrous for tens of millions of American workers and their families and represent a massive transferral of wealth to a small segment of our population. You have made it clear from your actions on the Ways and Means committee that you are determined, no matter the costs, on representing these minority interests at the expense of the economic livelihood of the majority of your constituents. You and the donor class that you represent are clearly engaging in outright class warfare.
You continue to wage this war through a campaign of dishonesty and obfuscation. You, your committee, the Republican majorities in Congress and the President all continue to spew economic lies and fallacies with no historical grounding. It is clear this plan will have dire ramifications to the economic viability of real people here in Pennsylvania. I know this because I have been out among the voters of the 7th district, speaking to them about their concerns and since you will not venture out to assess their discontent let me tell you: they are scared and they are angry! You would certainly know this if you actually met regularly with the people, on the streets or in public meetings and townhalls.
Your tax plan is antithetical to everything we hold to be American. It rewards passive gluttonous hoarding of wealth while increasing taxes on hard-earned wages and work. When a child works hard to get a scholarship, you will tax their parents on it. When they work to pay off their loans, they will not be able to deduct the interest. When they get into graduate school and work for a teaching job to cover their tuition, you will tax them on it. Your elimination of subsidies to ACA recipients coupled with the removal of the medical expense deduction will be devastating for seniors and a majority of Americans. People who have worked their whole lives and planned a responsible retirement in ACTS communities may no longer be able to afford their homes. Heck, your plan even disallows teachers in underfunded schools from deducting $250 for purchasing school supplies.
You are playing tricks on families, where they may see a modest tax decrease this year, but that will be followed by subsequent larger increases while corporations keep their breaks. It is all an elaborate smoke and mirrors trick to steal both your constituents’ hard-earned money and midterm election votes before the most vulnerable you represent are hit with the full consequences of your actions.
Yet, if you are extremely wealthy with passive income or if you are a large corporation, this plan makes it easier for you to keep your non-earned money. Your plan coddles the children of multi-millionaires by doubling the qualifying estate to $11 million. It also allows these millionaires to use loopholes new and old to avoid paying an appropriate level of taxes on income accrued passively. And for corporations you slash corporate taxes without instituting any reforms that would force business to “trickle down” such windfall to their employees. Rather, shareholders will see huge gains and those without large stock portfolios that show up for work everyday will be stuck with increasing taxes.
This plan rewards laziness and is born out of your own. You and your party could not even be bothered to pay for the money you are stealing today. Rather, your plan is to skyrocket the national debt, forcing our children to pay for your and your donors’ luxury lifestyles.
My message to you today concludes with a suggestion and a warning. I suggest that you stop leading us down a path to recession and increased wealth disparity, and use your position on the Ways and Means Committee to dramatically re-write this tax plan in a manner that protects the vital economic interests of the majority of the hard working people in the 7th Congressional District. Or more simply, oppose the plans outright! My warning is a reminder that these same people who are scared and angry have recently mobilized by the thousands to elect Democrats all throughout your District. If you fail to represent these people, there is no gerrymander that will be able to protect you, you will no longer be afforded the privilege of representing the 7th!
Sincerely,
Molly Sheehan
