New York Activists to Join in National Tax Day Protests, to Call on Lawmakers to Protect Health Care and Social Safety Net

The new tax cut law enacted by Congress and President Trump at the end of last year poses a direct threat to many existing federal health care and social safety net programs.  Beyond skewing our national tax system EVEN MORE to benefit large corporations and the super-rich, it also blew a huge $1.5B hole in the federal budget over the next decade.  Many expect Congress to soon move to try to slash funding for, and make radical changes to, the full range of social and health care programs in order to make up for the shortfall.  Many believe they intentionally created this deficit as an excuse to then attack domestic social programs.  The Trump administration’s new budget proposals for 2019 clearly lays out their plans.

2017 Tax March DC

The national organizations involved in producing last year’s Tax Marches across the US are again joining forces this year to undertake public activities on or around Tax Day.  The national “Not One Penny” campaign (which led last fall’s grassroots opposition to the tax cut bill as it was debated in Congress) recently launched a national bus tour through strategic states and congressional districts.  Its focus is to inform the public about the various destructive impacts of the new law, and its $1.5 trillion drain on the federal treasury in particular.  The tour will culminate in days of action from April 14 to 17 in communities and cities across the country.  These events will call attention to the importance of educating and mobilizing the public in advance of this fall’s midterm elections, with a focus to stop any proposed funding cuts to social safety net programs because of the tax law, and to restore fairness to our tax system.

Here in NYC on Tax Day (April 17), a variety of local groups are organizing a “People’s Tax Day Action Festival”, to take place from 5 to 7 pm in Foley Square in lower Manhattan, in front of the major state and federal court houses.

Components of this festival will include:

  • Selfie soap box with personal story sharing – what various social programs, which will be at risk in future budget proposals in order to pay for the tax scam, mean for me, my family, my community
  • Street theater demonstrating what’s really going down with the new tax cut law
  • “Tax and Social Justice Sing-Along” featuring popular/well-known songs with humorous rewritten lyrics
  • Life-sized “Runaway Equality Monopoly”
  • Tabling offering literature on the new tax law and related issues
  • Tabling for civic engagement and organizing opportunities in this year’s election season
  • Voter registration on the spot

Lead groups for the festival are the Upper West Side MoveOn-Indivisible Action Group, and Tax March.  Partner groups include Center for Popular Democracy, Communications Workers of America Local 1102, Get Organized Brooklyn Safety Net Defenders, Health Care for America Now-NYC, Indivisible Brooklyn, Metro NY Health Care for All, Progressive Doctors, Rise and Resist, Strong Economy for All, Upper East Side Indivisible, Working Families Party-NY.

Full details are at:  https://actionnetwork.org/events/nyc-peoples-tax-day-action-festival

 

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