By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
U.S. Rep. Terri A. Sewell, D-Selma, was sharply critical of the Republican tax reform package in a recent email to constituents.
“This month, Congress is considering passage of a tax bill that cuts taxes for special interests and the wealthy while eliminating provisions that middle-class families rely on to afford medical expenses, education, their mortgage, and more,” Sewell said. “I fought to fix the tax bill when it came before the Ways and Means Committee, and now I’m fighting to fix it before it passes Congress.”
“While the tax bill in the House makes permanent cuts to the tax rate for corporations and special interests, many tax cuts in the bill for middle-class families expire after only five years,” Sewell said. “Studies show that by 2027, only families making $50,000 or more would see a decline in their taxes under the House bill. To make matters worse, the tax bill adds $1.7 trillion to the national debt.”
“I’m a strong believer that our country needs tax reform that puts the focus on working and middle-class families,” Sewell said. “That is why, during my Committee’s markup of the tax bill, I offered amendments to promote workforce development, to equip state and local governments with the tools needed to invest in infrastructure, and to save the historic preservation tax credit. These programs have a long history of bipartisanship, and I was deeply disappointed when all Democratic amendments offered in Committee were rejected on party-line votes.”
“We cannot throw away our chance for long-lasting bipartisan tax reform on tax cuts that will grow the deficit by trillions of dollars and do more harm than good for middle-class families,” Sewell said. “The American public deserves a tax bill that incorporates public input and ideas from both sides of the aisle to craft legislation that helps working and middle-class families.”
On Thursday, President Donald Trump spoke in favor of the GOP tax reform plan in Missouri.
“We’re going to lower our tax rate to the very competitive number of 20 percent, as I said. And we’re going to create jobs and factories will be pouring into this country, and they already are starting,” Trump said. “A lot of people think it’s going to happen. I don’t want to say anything. I’m not going to talk about it. I thought we had healthcare, and we will have healthcare. It’s going to happen. As soon as we get the taxes, we work on the healthcare, we’re going to happen. Because we thought we had the votes and something happened a little strange that’s okay.”
Trump dismissed calls for a more bipartisan plan.
“It’s not easy dealing with the Democrats,” Trump said. “They want to have people pour into our country — illegals. They don’t care where the hell they come from. They want to have them pour into our country, they want to raise your taxes, they don’t want to take care of your military, and all they’re good at, frankly, is obstructing. They want to obstruct.”
The Republican Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed the House; but has now gone to the Senate, which has struggled to passed significant legislation to this point in the Trump presidency even though Republicans have a 52 to 48 majority.
Sewell represents Alabama’s 7th Congressional District.
