George Washington is said to have described the U.S. Senate as the body that cools the passions of an impulsive House of Representatives just as a saucer cools tea. But current Senate leaders appear to think of themselves as more of a Bunsen burner.
Alan Essig
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blog November 30, 2017 Lawmakers Are Allowing Monied Interests to Trump the Voices of Their Constituents
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news release November 9, 2017 Senate Tax Plan Includes Some Changes but Maintains Focus on Tax Cuts for the Rich
Following is a statement by Alan Essig, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding the Senate tax plan released today. While it will take a complete… -
media mention November 8, 2017 CBS News Money Watch: 5 Groups Who May Get No Relief from The GOP Tax Bill
Republicans say they want their tax code to give middle-class Americans a break, but some analysts are warning a few vulnerable groups may not get relief. The biggest winners under… -
news release November 6, 2017 New Analysis: Wealthy Will Receive a Growing Share of Tax Cuts in House Tax Plan Over Time
A national and 50-state distributional analysis of the House tax plan released late last week reveals that not only would the wealthiest 1 percent receive the greatest share of the total tax cut in year one, but their share would grow over time due to phase-ins of tax cuts that mostly benefit the rich and the eventual elimination or erosion in value of provisions that benefit low- and middle-income taxpayers.
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media mention November 3, 2017 Fortune: Did You Catch the Huge Loophole in the GOP Tax Plan? The Rich Sure Did.
Following in an excerpt from an op-ed by Alan Essig published in Fortune. In September, shortly after the GOP released the initial framework for its so-called middle-class tax plan, multiple… -
media mention November 3, 2017 Las Vegas Review Journal: GOP Unveils Tax-Reform Bill That Faces Political Hurdles
Alan Essig, executive director of the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, rejected GOP claims that the bill would help the middle class. “The starting point for tax reform… -
media mention November 3, 2017 Newsweek: Tax Reform Plan Is More Radical Than You Think
Critics note that there are plenty of other ways wealthier earners would do well. “Keeping the top tax rate at 39.6 percent for millionaires is a cosmetic change meant to… -
news release November 2, 2017 Bottom-Line Conclusion about GOP Tax Plan Is the Same After Reviewing More Details
Instead of engaging in thorough, public process that may have yielded real tax reform for middle-class families, lawmakers covertly put together a plan that reserves its biggest benefits for corporations and the wealthy while throwing in a few gimmicks for political cover.
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blog October 20, 2017 The Jig Is Up: Republican Budget Resolution Finally Admits That Deficit Will Soar Under GOP Tax Plan
For some lawmakers, annual deficits matter a lot—unless the nation is paying for tax cuts for the wealthy via deficit spending.
Last night, Republican lawmakers demonstrated that previous grandstanding about the nation’s debt is much ado about nothing. The Senate approved a budget resolution on a party-line vote that would 1. fast-track legislation adding $1.5 trillion to the deficit over 10 years by cutting taxes, and 2. make it easy to enact this measure without a single Democratic vote.
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media mention October 7, 2017 Ralph Nader Radio Hour: The Truth About Trump’s Tax Plan
Ralph and Alan Essig, Executive Director of Citizens for Tax Justice break down President Trump’s Tax Reform proposal and insurance expert, Robert Hunter, returns to explain what’s going on with hurricane and… -
news release October 5, 2017 ITEP Statement on House Budget Resolution: Lawmakers Gear up to Give the Public What It Doesn’t Want
Passing a budget is supposed to provide a structure for our elected officials to responsibly manage our nation’s finances and public investments. But that is not the purpose of this budget resolution.
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news release October 4, 2017 50-State Analysis: GOP-Trump Tax Proposal Would Give the Store Away to the Wealthy, Exacerbate the Income Divide
A 50-state analysis of the GOP tax framework reveals the top 1 percent of taxpayers would receive a substantial tax cut while middle- and upper-middle-income taxpayers in many states would… -
news release September 27, 2017 ITEP ED on GOP Tax Plan: “There is Something Terribly Wrong with This Picture”
Economically, the rich are doing just fine, yet the GOP is brazenly selling old hat trickle-down economic theories laden with rhetoric about projected economic growth that will benefit working people. Worse, they are doing so even though opinion polling shows the majority of Americans do not want Congress to pass tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations.
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media mention September 27, 2017 Fox News: Trump, Republicans reveal tax plan: What to know
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy last week slammed Trump’s plan as it said it wouldn’t alleviate financial burdens of the middle class. “Vague promises can’t conceal the hard… -
media mention August 30, 2017 Fortune: Trump Doesn’t Want Us to See His Real Tax Plan
Following is an excerpt from a op-ed by Alan Essig, executive director of ITEP, published on Fortune. President Donald Trump and his allies in Congress are eager to turn our… -
news release August 30, 2017 ITEP on President Trump’s Missouri Visit: The Policy Doesn’t Match the Rhetoric
Following is a statement by Alan Essig, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding President Trump’s visit to Springfield, Mo. The president is expected to tout… -
blog August 17, 2017 Context Is Everything
Today, the economic climate is starkly different, but it seems GOP leaders are relying on messaging and luck to push through the biggest tax package since 1986. The White House, Republican leaders and anti-tax advocates all have been toeing the same erroneous line: their plans to cut individual and corporate taxes will benefit middle class families and grow the economy. This is, of course, baloney.
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blog July 31, 2017 The Problems with the Multi-Million-Dollar Effort to Secure Millionaire and Corporate Tax Cuts
Until GOP leaders put forth a detailed tax proposal, we will not know for certain whether the plan will focus on the middle-class and create jobs. But what we do know is that unless the plan is a radical departure from the principles outlined by President Trump earlier this year or laid out by Paul Ryan last year in his “Better Way,” plan, GOP-led tax “reform” efforts will be a tax break bonanza for the wealthiest Americans while delivering a pittance to working people.
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blog July 27, 2017 GOP Leaders in Congress and the White House Set Out Goals for Tax Reform that Their Plans Fail to Meet
Today Republican leaders in Congress and officials from the White House released a joint statement on tax reform, claiming that “the single most important action we can take to grow our economy and help the middle class get ahead is to fix our broken tax code for families, small business, and American job creators competing at home and around the globe.”
Unfortunately, the proposals they have put forward so far do not address any such goals.
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news release July 20, 2017 50-State Analysis of Trump’s Tax Outline: Poorer Taxpayers and Poorer States are Disadvantaged
Not only would President Trump’s proposed tax plan fail to deliver on its promise of largely helping middle-class taxpayers, it also would shower a disproportionate share of the total tax… -
report July 17, 2017 Comment Letter on Tax Reform to Senate Finance Chairman
This letter outlines ITEP’s two broad objectives for meaningful federal tax reform and discusses six recommendations that would achieve them.
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blog June 26, 2017 Senate Health Care Reform Bill Just as “Mean” as the House Version
The Congressional Budget Office today released its score of the Senate Health Care proposal and the news is not good. It’s no wonder a narrow group of 13 lawmakers cobbled together the bill behind closed doors. Now that the measure has seen the light of day, we know that it epitomizes Robin Hood in reverse policies by snatching health coverage from 22 million people by 2026 (15 million in 2018) while showering tax cuts on the already wealthy.
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media mention June 20, 2017 Public News Service: GOP Health Bill Would Deliver Tax Breaks to the Wealthiest
Alan Essig, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, says data from the Congressional Budget Office confirms that the health bill that cleared the U.S. House is… -
news release June 20, 2017 Speaker Ryan’s “Bold Agenda” for the Country Boils Down to Tax Breaks for the Wealthy
Speaker Paul Ryan today correctly outlined some of working people’s concerns, including the desire for more good jobs and access to the training required to secure those jobs. But his bottom line policy prescriptions for addressing the concerns of working people are the same old trickle-down economic policies that time after time have proven to primarily benefit the wealthy.
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blog June 16, 2017 The GOP Health Plan Cuts Medicaid to Lower Taxes for the Richest 3 Percent
The bill passed by the House of Representatives last month to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the most unpopular legislation in decades.
Lawmakers should reverse course and take the necessary time to put together legislation that would preserve or, better yet, improve access to health care. But this isn’t likely to happen because at its core, the American Health Care Act isn’t truly health care reform. It is tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the rich shrouded in legislative provisions that would weaken the existing health care law.