Despite insisting that tax reform would focus on working families and small business tax relief, yesterday President Trump and Congressional Republicans released a tax plan that slashes taxes for “pass-through” income earned by the wealthiest Americans. Pass-through income is business income filed through an individual tax return. Cutting taxes for well-paid pass-through owners would do little to support Main Street entrepreneurship and would only force working Americans to shoulder more of the tax burden. Republicans should work with Democrats to craft a tax plan that helps small businesses grow in every corner of the nation, rather than finding backdoors to give sweetheart tax deals to Trump and big businesses that game the system.
Sep 27 2017
America's Digital Divide
Our economy is increasingly becoming dependent on access to high-speed internet connections. Access to the internet brings unprecedented economic opportunities for users, especially for people living in remote areas, for whom the internet opens a window to the world. The internet, and access to it, has changed our world in such a profound way that for many people, life without it is unimaginable.
Sep 27 2017
The Benefits of a Connected America
To ensure that all Americans have access to resources that can help them thrive in a digital world, Congress must focus on expanding access to broadband internet and work to close the digital divides. Expanding broadband internet access connects people and information across the world, opening up previously unavailable economic, educational, and health care opportunities for Americans – particularly among those with limited access communities.
Republicans’ latest effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is their worst yet. Graham-Cassidy is even more devastating than the Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act (ORRA), which fully repealed the ACA, because it also imposes draconian cuts on the long-standing Medicaid program.
Sep 26 2017
All States Lose Under Graham-Cassidy
All states lose under Graham-Cassidy, the latest Republican attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The new TrumpCare bill replaces Medicaid expansion with an inadequate block grant and imposes drastic cuts on traditional Medicaid through arbitrary caps. And by eliminating Medicaid expansion, the bill denies states that have not expanded Medicaid the option of expanding after 2020.
Republicans’ latest Trumpcare bill advanced by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) may change rapidly in last-ditch efforts to buy votes before the Friday deadline, but the heart of the matter is clear: Graham-Cassidy would devastate America’s health care system by removing protections for pre-existing conditions, reinstating lifetime limits, gutting federal spending on health care, and kicking the biggest consequences down the road to 2027.
With 70 percent of grant funding for community health centers (CHCs) set to expire at the end of the month, Republicans continue their attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with the catastrophic Graham-Cassidy proposal, threatening the health care of millions of Americans.
Republicans’ latest effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is their worst yet. Graham-Cassidy is even more devastating than the Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act (ORRA), which fully repealed the ACA, because it also imposes draconian cuts on the long-standing Medicaid program.
Sep 22 2017
September Economic Snapshot of the States
Although the U.S. economy overall continues its expansion following the Great Recession and associated financial crisis, the recovery can look very different from state to state. The lion’s share of economic gains are not only concentrated at the top of the income and wealth distribution, but also in a small share of regions. While some parts of the country have surged ahead, millions of Americans in urban and rural communities are still waiting for their wages to start rising again and struggling to make ends meet.
The Senate is racing toward a vote next week on Cassidy-Graham—a bill that impacts the health care of millions of people and one-sixth of the economy—without a full Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score, an unprecedented move that defies regular order. A complete score would likely show that the bill would kick millions of people off of their health insurance and raise premiums for working Americans.
