The Politics of Autism includes a discussion of tax issues.
Background
On November 16, the House of Representatives passed its version of a tax bill. Now the Senate is finalizing its own version. Both bills are extremely damaging because they:
Pave the way for cutting Medicaid, Medicare, Supplemental Security Income, and other critical programs for people with disabilities in order to pay for the tax cuts later.
Increase the deficit significantly to provide tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the wealthiest Americans and corporations.
But the Senate bill is even worse. It also repeals the “individual mandate” for people to have health care coverage. If this happens, nearly 14 million people will lose health coverage and it will increase premiums for people buying insurance on the health insurance exchange by 10% per year. The individual mandate is a central part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which greatly benefits people with disabilities by eliminating pre-existing condition exclusions, banning annual and lifetime limits, prohibiting discrimination based on health status, and much more.
The Senate is scheduled to vote on its Tax Cuts and Jobs Act the week after Thanksgiving.
We must stop this very harmful and unpopular legislation NOW. TAKE ACTION
WHAT TO SAY:
- Call your Senators. Call the Capitol Switchboard number 202-224-3121 and ask for your Senators.
- Attend a Town Hall Meeting.
- Participate in a Tax Plan Rally Event.
- I am a member of Autism Society of America.
- Please vote NO on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
- We cannot afford these tax cuts that go mainly to the wealthiest Americans and large corporations.
- Tax reform should not be rushed. People should have time to understand the bill and how they will be affected.
