Washington, DC – With the U.S. Senate poised to vote this Monday on U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s (D-RI) legislation to improve tax fairness by implementing the Buffett Rule, a coalition of more than 100 national, state, and local organizations sent a letter to Senators today urging them to support the bill.
“We believe that a basic premise of the promise of America – no matter what your political party – is that everyone should contribute their fair share,” the letter states. “S. 2230 is a first step to creating a fairer tax system, which provides a clear choice: Do you want a nation where millionaires pay lower taxes than middle-class Americans, or an America where everyone contributes their fair share? Two-out-of three Americans support the latter. We urge you to join with them by supporting S. 2230 and by allowing the measure to get an up-or-down vote.”
The letter was signed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the AFL-CIO, the Alliance for Retired Americans, Citizens for Tax Justice, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Main Street Alliance, the National Organization for Women, the YWCA USA, and many others.
“I’m honored to stand with these organizations in the fight for tax fairness,” said Whitehouse. “I thank them for lending their support, and I hope my colleagues in the Senate will listen to their message. It’s time to restore tax fairness for middle-class Americans.”
The full text of the letter is below.
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April 13, 2012
Dear Senator:
We write to ask you to support Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s “Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012,” S. 2230, legislation that would address an array of tax loopholes that allows some millionaires and billionaires to pay a lower effective tax rate than working families.
S. 2230 implements the so-called “Buffett Rule,” proposed by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who pays a lower effective tax rate than his secretary. The legislation would require that all households with incomes above $1 million a year pay at least a 30 percent minimum federal effective tax rate on income, a critical first step in creating a more equitable tax code.
This should not be controversial legislation. We believe that a basic premise of the promise of America – no matter what your political party – is that everyone should contribute their fair share. The richest Americans have benefitted from enormous increases in wealth in recent decades, while everyone else has struggled to make ends meet. S. 2230 represents a modest but important step for addressing rising inequality.
There is no reason that Washington should subsidize millionaires and billionaires. Continuing the array of tax loopholes that the Buffett Rule seeks to address adds to the deficit and requires middle-class Americans to make up the difference – either through higher taxes or through reductions in funding for Medicare and Medicaid, public education, researching new medical cures, or rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure.
S. 2230 is a first step to creating a fairer tax system, which provides a clear choice: Do you want a nation where millionaires pay lower taxes than middle-class Americans, or an America where everyone contributes their fair share? Two-out-of three Americans support the latter. We urge you to join with them by supporting S. 2230 and by allowing the measure to get an up-or-down vote.
Sincerely,
9to5, National Association of Working Women
Action North Carolina
ACTION United
AFL-CIO
AFSCME
Alliance for a Just Society
Alliance for Retired Americans
American Federation of Government Employees
American Federation of Teachers
Americans for Democratic Action
Campaign for America’s Future
Campaign for Community Change
Catholics United
Center for American Progress Action Fund
Champaign County Health Care Consumers
Children’s Alliance
Citizens for Tax Justice
CLASP (Center for Law and Social Policy)
CO Progressive Coalition
Coalition of Labor Union Women
Coalition on Human Needs
Coastal Community Action (NC)
Common Cause
Community Action Agency
Community Action Partnership
Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County, Inc.
Community Voices Heard
Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO
Disabled Rights Action Committee
Disciples Justice Action Network
Economic Opportunity Institute
Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon
Education Equals Making Community Connections
Every Child Matters
Faith in Public Life
Gray Panthers
Health Care for America Now
Heaven In View Outreach Ministry
IIRON
Institute for Wisconsin’s Future
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement
Legal Momentum
Litchfield Public Schools Early Childhood Programs
Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative
Main Street Alliance
Maine People’s Alliance/Maine People’s Resource Center
Maryland National Organization for Women
Metanoia Centers for Innovation
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Michigan Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Network
National Association for Hispanic Elderly
National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of La Raza
National Council of Women’s Organizations
National Council on Independent Living
National Disability Rights Network
National Education Association
National Education Association-Retired
National Low Income Housing Coalition
National Organization for Women
National People’s Action
National Women’s Law Center
NETWORK
New York State Alliance for Retired Americans
New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness
NH Citizens Alliance for Action
Northside P.O.W.E.R.
Partners in Counseling
People For the American Way
PICO National Network
Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada
Progress Texas
Progressive Congress
Progressive Democrats of America
ProgressOhio
Promise the Children
Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Coalition
Rappahannock United Way
RESULTS
Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
Service Employees International Union
Sisters of St. Francis
Sisters of St. Joseph
Social Security Disability Coalition
St. Vincent de Paul Society
Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees
Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice
Tax Fairness Oregon
Tax Justice Network USA
The Arc of Alameda County
The Arc of the United States
UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO
United Auto Workers
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries
United Electrical Workers Union (UE)
United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 400
United Food and Commercial Workers
United for a Fair Economy
United Steelworkers
USAction
Virginia Organizing
VOCAL-NY (formerly NYC AIDS Housing Network)
Voices For Progress
WHEAT
Wider Opportunities for Women
Working America
Xaverian Brothers
YWCA USA
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