USAction affiliates and partners marched, protested and rallied in 24 states on Tax Day to call on corporations and the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share.
Across the country, people are sick and tired of Republican elites in D.C. telling us that the greatest nation in the world is broke. That the wealthiest nation in the world must cut salaries for teachers, reduce investment in clean energy and destroy our promise of Medicare to America’s seniors. This is all a lie.
It’s a lie and a smokescreen put up in order to give NEW tax breaks to corporate CEO’s and billionaires across the country. It’s also a false choice; we don’t have a deficit crisis or a spending problem. We have a jobs crisis and a revenue problem!
USAction’s affiliates and partners are rallying to make the progressive path forward clear to the public:
Will we continue to squeeze working families and the middle class or will we create good jobs here at home, provide our families with security and build a brighter future for our children? This is the choice that Congress faces. This is the choice our nation faces.
Check out the great work below and our previous posts on the work of Washington Community Action Network!, Maine People’s Alliance and Missouri Pro-Vote.
Ocean State Action (Rhode Island)
RI group calls on lawmakers to tax top earners
Turnto10.comRhode Islanders opposed to more cuts in state spending held a rally Monday afternoon in front of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce to support calls to raise taxes on the wealthy and big corporations.
Organized by Ocean State Action, the group comprised of union members and small business owners called on the General Assembly to stand up for regular Rhode Islanders.
“The biggest issue we have as small business is really carrying a lot of the burden that I think are sort of passed off from larger corporations,” said Robert Cagnetta, who owns a small business.
To help fix Rhode Island’s budget woes, the group called for the state to close tax loopholes that allow big companies to use out-of-state subsidiaries to reduce their state taxes.
“Right now corporations are legally moving their profits to low tax or no tax states to avoid payment here in Rhode Island. Now Rhode Island small businesses can’t do that. They don’t have expensive tax attorneys to set up out of state tax shelters,” said Ocean State Action Executive DirectorKate Brock. “It’s time for the chamber to work for all of the businesses in Rhode Island and not just their Wall Street interests.”
…“My priorities are to making sure we have a world-class education for our students, we have roads and bridges that aren’t in disrepair, we have police force and fire departments that are fully staffed,” Brock said.
Penn ACTION:
In Philadelphia, activists from Penn ACTION, MoveOn.org and other groups shut down a local branch of Bank of America. Democratic protest and corporations being held accountable now also known as “circumstances beyond BOA’s control”!
Media, Pennsylvania Rally:
West Virginia Citizen Action Group:
Citizen Action, others call for tax fairness
West Virginia Public BroadcastingMembers of West Virginia Citizen Action, the Council of Churches, the AFL-CIO and others gathered outside the Main Post Office in Charleston. They were there for an hour to point out that 83 of the 100 largest companies in America manage to avoid paying an estimated $100 billion in taxes each year.
Gary Zuckett, Executive Director of West Virginia Citizen Action, quoted a new report from the Public Interest Research Group that says corporations are hiding their profits by setting up off-shore “tax havens.”
According to Zuckett, “This is costing us, the little guy, the little taxpayer, the small business in West Virginia, $188 per taxpayer, over $200 million this year.”
Zuckett focused on companies like GE, that paid no taxes last year. He, and others at the small rally, passed out literature encouraging taxpayers to call on Congress to close the tax loopholes.
Washington Community Action Network
Activists call for ‘moral,’ humane cuts The News Tribune
A five-day, 50-mile march ended for one advocacy group and a five-day fast began for others Monday at the state Capitol.
The few dozen activists were making a statement about the harm they expect pending budget cuts to inflict on the social safety net and on those who depend on government for housing, food and medicine.
“Something’s wrong – definitely wrong,” said Gina Owens, who was homeless at one point and joined the march. She spoke tearfully on the Capitol steps about taking care of three grandchildren after her daughter Tifany died a few years ago without health insurance, and her worry about losing the housing that ended her own homelessness.
New Jersey Citizen Action Network
USAction Executive Director Jeff Blum was on hand for the NJCA rally and the New Jersey News Record provided the coverage below:
Liberal Groups Call For Restoration Of NJ EITC
In the current budget, New Jersey’s EITC was trimmed from 25 percent of the federal benefit to 20 percent and it remains at that lower level in Christie’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year. NJCA called on elected representatives at both the state and federal level to make corporations and millionaires pay their fair share by restoring the New Jersey’s millionaire’s tax to 2009 levels, closing corporate loopholes and ending federal tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals.
“In New Jersey it’s time to require that corporations and millionaires pay their fair share and support a balanced approach to our state budget so that we can protect the critical programs that serve our state’s middle class, our seniors and our most vulnerable residents,” said Phyllis Salowe-Kaye, executive director of NJCA.
Speaking on the importance of restoring the Earned Income Tax Credit, Ray Castro from NJ Policy Perspective said, “A half-million working poor families will pay higher taxes again this year because of the Christie Administration’s reduction in the state Earned Income Tax Credit. Compared with two years ago, a parent with two children earning the minimum wage will pay $300 more in taxes, even as the administration provides tax credits to corporations and millionaires. It’s another unfortunate example of why we need a balanced approach, one that doesn’t place the burden unfairly on the backs of those who can least afford it.”
