House Budget Proposal Is a Giveaway to Millionaires, Billionaires and Corporations at the Expense of Main Street Americans
July 18, 2017
House Budget Proposal Is a Giveaway to Millionaires, Billionaires and Corporations at the Expense of Main Street Americans
Statements From Public Citizen Experts
Note: Republicans on the U.S. House Budget Committee released a budget proposal today calling for significant cuts to public services to pay for major tax handouts to the wealthy.
“The House Budget Resolution is a toxic combination of proposed tax cuts for corporations and the rich, instructions to curtail protections for the nation’s most vulnerable Main Street Americans at the behest of Wall Street, and other dangerous policies that would make it harder for wronged Americans to go to court. This is a recipe that fails our nation’s future. With this budget, Republicans are choosing corporate interests over regular Americans.”
–Lisa Gilbert, vice president, legislative affairs, Public Citizen
“The House GOP budget calls for slashing public services that our families depend on – such as health care and education – in order to pay for outlandish tax giveaways to corporations, millionaires and billionaires. These are cuts that a strong majority of the voting public opposes. More than 9,000 Public Citizen members and supporters from around the country signed on to a statement (PDF) demanding that not one penny be spent on tax cuts for wealthy individuals and that, instead, our nation’s leaders should close tax loopholes, like the tax deduction for multimillion-dollar CEO bonuses; institute new revenue sources like a financial transaction tax; and require corporations to pay the $750 billion in taxes they already owe on the $2.6 trillion dollars they have booked overseas. That’s what real tax ‘reform’ should look like.”
–Susan Harley, deputy director, Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division
“This so-called budget assumes adoption of a sweeping Wall Street deregulation bill called the Financial CHOICE Act. Wall Street savaged the nation, cost millions of Americans their homes, jobs and savings. Many are still struggling to recover from the deluge of debt from predatory lenders. Dismantling sensible safeguards for financial institutions exposes consumers and the economy to more scams and greater systemic risk. That’s why not one Democrat in the House has voted what’s aptly called the ‘Wrong Choice Act.’”
–Bartlett Naylor, financial policy advocate, Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division
“Republicans are once again making fantastical claims regarding the practice of defensive medicine – for example, that doctors can employ extra tests and procedures to protect themselves against potential litigation – to justify their attempts to limit patients’ rights and prevent them from receiving the justice they deserve. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the health care lobby continue to forward preposterous estimates on the prevalence of defensive medicine, even after those claims have been debunked, including in a recent study (PDF) by Public Citizen. Restricting patients’ rights in an effort to do the bidding of the health care lobby is not a responsible way to manage the nation’s budget.”
–Remington A. Gregg, counsel for civil justice and consumer rights, Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division
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