“Tax the Rich. Save America. Yes, it really is that simple.”
So said the organizers of the first-ever “Tax the Rich!” conference, hosted by Patriotic Millionaires and a coalition of other groups in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.
The one-day conference aimed to explain why and how to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans to curb economic inequality and address major national issues, including “underfunded schools, inadequate healthcare, and a crumbling infrastructure.”
Hosted just ahead of Tax Day, the conference highlighted how the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, which critics call the Trump or GOP “tax scam,” was always designed to benefit corporations and the richest Americans rather than working people and families.
Dozens of progressive millionaires, lawmakers, policy experts, and journalists came together for panel discussions and presentations such as “Trump’s Tax Bill: The Art of the Steal,” “The Games People Play (And By People We Mean Corporations),” and “Let’s Play Economic Jenga With Billionaires!”
Speakers included Democratic Reps. Barbara Lee (Calif.) and Mark Pocan (Wis.), who both hold leadership roles in the Congressional Progressive Caucus. In a panel discussion moderated by The Intercept‘s Ryan Grim, Lee noted how “the Trump Tax cut has been used as a base to attack the American safety net.”
“This really is a ‘which side are you on?’ moment,” said American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten. “Either we fix the tax code so it doesn’t rig the economy further, or we follow the ruinous path of slashing services and making the middle class and working class pay for it.”
Weingarten, who leads the nation’s second-largest teachers union, also emphasized the importance of fully funding programs like Title 1 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in her “Fund Our Future” presentation.
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