Trump Treasury Department suppresses government study contradicting their argument about corporate tax cuts benefiting workers

American Bridge spokesperson Andrew Bates released the following statement after news broke that the Treasury Department removed a study done by career economists concluding that reducing the corporate tax rate primarily benefits corporate shareholders, not workers, as Donald Trump and his cabinet have claimed. 

“The Trump Administration has already been caught lying about how much their tax plan will benefit the wealthiest Americans – including Donald Trump himself – and now they’re trying to suppress the work of nonpartisan, career Treasury economists because it contradicts their preferred fiction about corporate tax cuts not primarily benefiting shareholders over workers. It’s clear that the tax plan Donald Trump and congressional Republicans wrote behind closed-doors is designed to be a windfall for the rich and large corporations, further rigging the economy so that the middle class and those fighting to get into the middle class are left behind. This administration’s attempt to evade the truth will […]

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Sanders Questions: Ms. Kushner Edition

Why does President Trump keep lying about a US Senator being hospitalized? American Bridge Rapid Response Director Emily Aden calls on White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to answer that and other pressing questions:

1. Is Jared Kushner registering to vote as a woman for years seems like an example of what this administration would call voter fraud. Will he be reprimanded?

2. How can President Trump credibly discipline Tom Price for wasting $300,000 in taxpayer dollars on 24 private flights when he has spent 85 days as President on vacation costing taxpayers $20 million?

3. On this 70th anniversary of the National Security Council, will President Trump apologize for previously putting white supremacist Steve Bannon on the Council?

4. Gary Cohn said he “can’t guarantee” taxes won’t go up under Trump’s plan for the middle class even though Trump promised his plan would cut taxes for the middle class. Who’s lying?

5. Does […]

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Trump’s lead economic adviser admits Trump is lying about his tax plan 

“It’s come to the point that even Donald Trump’s top economic adviser won’t defend his lies about taxes,” said American Bridge spokesperson Andrew Bates.​ “Donald Trump is trying to exploit his office and cut his own taxes, a move that would further rig the economy for the richest Americans while leaving the American middle class behind. The American people deserve better, starting with a tax plan that is focused on investing in good-paying jobs and delivering economic relief to hard-working people who need it most by letting them keep more of their hard-earned money.”

Yesterday, Donald Trump promised the American people multiple times that his tax plan put the middle class and working Americans first, as well as that it did not benefit the rich – himself included.

Donald Trump, 9/27/2017: “Our framework includes our explicit commitment that tax reform will protect low-income and middle-income households, not the wealthy and well-connected. They can call me all […]

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BREAKING: Trump Administration intensifies Obamacare marketplace sabotage day after Graham-Cassidy-Heller Trumpcare vote is pulled 

American Bridge spokesperson Andrew Bates released the following statement responding to reports that the Trump Administration abruptly cancelled Department of Health & Human Services participation in events promoting the Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges:

“The degree to which the Trump Administration is actively undermining the Affordable Care Act marketplaces that millions of Americans depend on is appalling, and this pattern exposes that Donald Trump’s real concern has never been improving access to care at all. Trump needs to come to grips with reality: the Affordable Care Act has been successful because it expanded health coverage to an unprecedented number of Americans and established life-changing protections for people suffering from preexisting conditions. It’s far past time for a bipartisan plan that puts Americans first to strengthen existing law – not sabotage it – so Trump can’t continue hurting innocent people this way.

Vox: Trump administration abruptly drops out of Obamacare events […]

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Trump’s sabotage of the Affordable Care Act costs the people of Florida

Donald Trump is actively sabotaging Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance marketplaces, and it is costing thepeople of Florida. Today, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation announced that, as a result of Trump destabilizing the market, premiums for individual coverage plans on the health insurance exchanges in Florida will increase by an average of 44.7% next year.

This news comes after Donald Trump has taken a host of executive actions that have harmed insurance markets and driven-up healthcare costs for Americans, including an executive order on Trump’s first day in office to compromise the effectiveness of the individual mandate, calling into question whether the mandate would be enforced at all, pulling an initial round of ACA enrollment ads that had already been paid for, and cutting the overall enrollment ad budget by 90% as well as community outreach funds by 40%.

Most damaging of all, Trump has repeatedly threatened to withhold cost-sharing reductions (CSRs), which are critical in order for  Read more after the jump.

​​Trump’s sabotage of the Affordable Care Act costs the people of ​Maine

Donald Trump is actively sabotaging Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance marketplaces, and it is costing the people of Maine.
Today, ​Anthem announced that, as a result of Trump destabilizing the market, it will withdraw from offering individual coverage plans on the health insurance exchanges in ​Maine.

This news comes after Donald Trump has taken a host of executive actions that have harmed insurance markets and driven-up healthcare costs for Americans, including an executive order on Trump’s first day in office to compromise the effectiveness of the individual mandate, calling into question whether the mandate would be enforced at all, pulling an initial round of ACA enrollment ads that had already been paid for, and cutting the overall enrollment ad budget by 90% as well as community outreach funds by 40%.

Most damaging of all, Trump has repeatedly threatened to withhold cost-sharing reductions (CSRs), which are critical in order for 7 million working people to […]

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Trump and Republicans are trying to raise taxes on the middle class while cutting them for billionaires

American Bridge President Jessica Mackler responded to the tax reform blueprint released by Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress with the following statement:

“Just like with their failed Trumpcare plans, Donald Trump and Republicans’ backwards values and priorities were exposed with this tax plan that will RAISE taxes on millions of middle class Americans in order to finance a breathtaking multi trillion dollar tax cut for the rich.

“Not only are they violating multiple pledges to the American people, Trump’s tax plan does not close the tax loophole that benefits companies which outsource American jobs and it contains no tax incentives for job retraining.

“Also, instead of delivering opportunity to millions of  struggling Americans, this plan would eliminate the estate tax, which only affects people with over $5 million, and which woul save Trump himself billons.”

“Any Republican who supports this pledge is choosing to help further rig the American economy in favor of the […]

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BREAKING: Trump wants taxes cut for the 1%, tax increase for the working poor 

American Bridge spokesperson Andrew Bates released the following statement after news broke that Donald Trump and congressional Republicans plan to combine new tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans with a tax increase on the middle class and the working poor.

​”​Behind closed doors, Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan are planning to further rig the U.S. economy for the rich at the expense of the the middle class and those fighting to enter it.  Just like on healthcare, Donald Trump is showing his true colors by breaking his promises and selling-out the American people with a stagger​ing​ new tax increase on the working poor.”

Axios: Republicans agree to raise bottom tax rate, double standard deduction

Jonathan Swan

Top White House and GOP leaders have agreed to raise the lowest individual tax rate from 10 to 12 percent, paired with doubling the standard deduction, 5 senior Republicans tell us.

Why this […]

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Five Facts About Roger Stone

This morning, long time Trump confidante and adviser Roger Stone will testify before the House Intelligence Committee about his role in the Trump-Russia scandal. From his history with disgraced former campaign chairman and FBI target Paul Manafort to his multiple timely predictions about when Russian hackers were going to strike, here’s what you need to know about the many ways Stone fits into the Trump web of collusion.

1. Roger Stone’s relationship with Paul Manafort goes back four decades. In 1977 Manafort managed Stone’s campaign for Young Republican National Federation Chair and the two started a lobbying firm together in 1981.

2. Roger Stone was caught on tape admitting he communicated with Julian Assange during the campaign and predicted an “October Surprise.” Asked about his prediction for an “October Surprise,” Stone said, “Well, it could be any number of things. I actually have communicated with Assange. I believe the next tranche of his documents […]

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CBO Report: Preliminary Analysis of Legislation That Would Replace Subsidies for Health Care With Block Grants

“This nonpartisan analysis confirms what we already knew: this bill would be a disaster for millions of Americans,” said American Bridge spokesperson Andrew Bates. “Mitch McConnell should scrap his plans to move forward immediately and work in a bipartisan fashion to fix existing law – nothing else is acceptable.”

Key paragraphs from the CBO:

The number of people with comprehensive health insurance that covers high-cost medical events would be reduced by millions compared with the baseline projections for each year during the decade, CBO and JCT estimate.

[…]

CBO and JCT expect that, if this legislation was enacted, millions of additional people would be uninsured compared with CBO’s baseline projections each year over the 2018–2026 period. (Adopting a well-established definition, the agencies categorize people as uninsured if they are not covered by a policy or enrolled in a government program that provides financial protection from major medical risks.) That increase would stem mainly from lower enrollment […]

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