Issues: Trump budget

GOP Wants To Cut Cut Cut Health Insurance From 15 Million Americans With Trump’s Tax Bill

American Bridge spokesperson Andrew Bates issued the following statement after House Ways & Means Chairman Kevin Brady said that, after urging from Donald Trump, Republicans were considering adding repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate to their tax plan.

“Let me get this straight – the Republican tax plan that is the centerpiece of Donald Trump’s economic agenda would raise taxes on millions of middle class Americans in order to pay for enormous new breaks for the wealthy and large corporations, and now they may also try to take healthcare away from 15 million Americans? This is repugnant, and it would be a gut punch to the very people counting on economic relief.”

This morning, The New York Times reported that economic modelling calculations using TaxBrain show that 13 million Americans who earn $100,000 a year or less would see their taxes increase under the Republican plan. An […]

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Statement: Trump threatens more Obamacare sabotage unless Republican tax bill takes coverage from millions as it raises taxes on middle class families

American Bridge spokesperson Andrew Bates issued the following statement after it was reported that Donald Trump is preparing an executive order to cripple the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, and which would be used if congressional Republicans do not repeal the mandate in their tax reform plan.

​”Raising taxes on millions of middle class families, and at the same time taking health coverage from 28 million people, in order to pay for new tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and large corporations is dead wrong as an economic policy, and would be a catastrophic one-two punch for working people. Trump’s partisan sabotage of health insurance markets is already making healthcare costs skyrocket, and at the same time he’s trying sell them out even more by rigging the tax code for millionaires.”

The Trump Administration’s own Department of Health & Human Services has confirmed that premiums on the […]

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Sanders Questions: Bully-In-Chief Edition

It’s been one day since the deadly terrorist attack in New York City and President Trump is taunting the home state Senator on Twitter with lies about his record and calling for immigration bans steeped in Islamophobia. As we’ve sadly come to expect from this President, he has shown once again moments that require leadership, unity, and compassion completely evade him.

American Bridge Rapid Response Director Emily Aden calls on White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to answer the following questions:

1. Why is President Trump calling for policy changes right out of the gate after yesterday’s terrorist attack in New York City but insisted it was not time talk about reforms after the terrorist attack in Las Vegas that killed 59 people and injured more than 500 more?

2. Does President Trump support Senator Grassley’s legislation to enforce registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act in the wake of Paul Manafort’s […]

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Trump To Sign Pro-Wall Street, Anti-Consumer And Veteran Bill Behind Closed Doors

This afternoon – without press access and behind closed doors – Donald Trump will sign legislation dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s rule against forced arbitration – a practice used by Wall Street banks, credit card companies, and predatory lenders to deny Americans their full legal rights when they are victims of fraud on the part of those companies.

American Bridge spokesperson Andrew Bates responded to Trump’s signing of the bill with the following statement:

“Donald Trump is selling-out middle class families, working Americans, and veterans by signing this dangerous legislation – a key Wall Street lobbying priority – which lets banks and credit card companies evade legal accountability after defrauding their customers. And he’s doing it behind closed doors, hoping that no one will notice. Giving large, financial sector companies the ability to deprive American consumers of fundamental legal rights using fine print is the exact opposite of ‘draining the swamp’ – and it’s […]

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Week Ahead — Conspiracy Against The United States Edition

Two Trump aides have been indicted on charges of conspiracy against the United States and a third has pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI. These explosive revelations mark a potentially pivotal moment in the ongoing investigation, but also serve as a stark reminder of how much Trump wrongdoing we already know about. Trump campaign officials and family members met with Kremlin-connected Russian operatives about receiving help from the Russian government. Jared Kushner and Jeff Sessions both lied about contact with Russian officials. Trump’s former campaign chairman and national security adviser both acted as agents of foreign governments, while a top campaign donor tried to help organize stolen materials. In office, Trump fired FBI Director James Comey while, by his own admission, considering the ongoing investigation.

For a full map of all of Trump’s suspicious ties to Russia, check out:  Read more after the jump.

Editorial Roundup: Release All The Records Edition!

Last week, while Congressional Republicans sided with banks and credit companies over their own constituents, and San Juan Mayor Cruz fought with Whitefish Energy, Donald Trump reiterated his support for Ed Gillespie, reversed his stance multiple times on 401(k)s, and tried to obstruct a teenager from obtaining an abortion.

 

Editorial boards across the country criticized Trump for his ACA sabotage, Trump’s Opioid epidemic response, echoed the criticisms of former Presidents and Republican Senators, and more. Here’s what Americans read this week in their local newspapers:

 

10/20

 

Burlington Free Press: For The President, It’s Donald Trump First

 

The real danger of Trump’s performance in office is that Americans become so numb to the president’s outrageous behavior that they are unable to recognize the erosion of democracy taking place in plain sight.

 

The president sucks the air out of the news cycle with erratic tweets, sudden position reversals and […]

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Tax Policy Center shows Trump’s tax plan will REDUCE economic growth, refuting White House

An updated analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center concludes that the tax plan being written behind closed doors by Donald Trump and congressional Republican leadership would, in the long term, shrink U.S. economic growth.

This refutes claims made by Trump and administration officials – including a new Council of Economic Advisers report out today – who have promised that their tax proposal would result in American GDP growth of between 3-5%.

“The capstone of Donald Trump’s economic agenda – a backwards tax plan that would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy and large corporations while raising taxes on millions of middle class families – would in fact reduce U.S. economic growth,” said American Bridge spokesperson Andrew Bates. “Delivering economic gains for American workers and families needs to be the number one focus of any tax legislation, and by that test this proposal fails spectacularly.” 

Key paragraph​s​:

“President Trump and his top aides have argued that the Framework would […]

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BREAKING: Companies not planning to create jobs with Trump’s corporate tax cuts

American Bridge spokesperson Andrew Bates released the following statement after a Reuters report found that U.S. companies are already planning to use the tax cuts in the proposal that Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are writing behind closed doors in order to benefit shareholders instead of create new jobs, as Trump has promised. 

“The tax plan that Donald Trump and Republicans are writing behind closed doors puts the middle class and American workers dead last. Their tax proposal is a giveaway to the wealthiest Americans and large corporations at the expense of everyone else, and now the rug has been pulled-out from underneath the disingenuous arguments being made by the White House.”

Reuters: CEOs suggest Trump tax cut may lift investors more than jobs
Mike Stone

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump is selling tax reform to Americans on the promise it will create extra income for companies to invest in […]

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Sanders Questions: ‘Liddle Donnie Edition

Senator Bob Corker really hit the nail on the head this morning when he said of President Trump, “the debasement of our nation is what he’ll be most remembered for.” Is it too little, too late? Probably, especially considering the Republican just a few months ago was singing Trump’s praises as he angled for a job in his Cabinet.  But Corker’s honesty is nonetheless welcome at a time when virtually every other Republican in Washington can’t come to grips with the dangers that Trump presents for the country and the world.

As White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders takes the podium today it is important to remember the role that she, and all others in this White House and Congress, play in enabling this debasement of our country, our values, and our standing in the world.

American Bridge Rapid Response Director Emily Aden calls on Sanders to answer the following questions:

1. […]

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Bridge Project responds to Trump Administration again siding with Wall Street lobbyists over American consumers

This morning, the Trump Administration’s Treasury Department issued a paper echoing deceptive talking points regularly used by Wall Street lobbyists and the banking industry in attacking common-sense efforts by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to protect Americans abused by big banks.  The CFPB is trying to the end the practice of “forced arbitration,” which denies millions of hardworking Americans access to their full legal rights after being defrauded.

American Bridge spokesperson Andrew Bates responded with the following statement:

“Nothing undermines ‘draining the swamp’ more than Donald Trump’s Treasury Department — run by a former Goldman Sachs executive — joining forces with Wall Street’s top lobbyists to fight the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new effort to protect Americans from corrupt practices.  Just ask the 3.5 million Americans defrauded by Wells Fargo. Like Trump’s tax plan, this is about rigging the U.S. economy in favor of powerful interest groups and the wealthy against the American middle class. Trump is selling-out the […]

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