Saturday, September 2, 2017

Progressive groups urge Democrat not to support Trump’s tax reform goals

Progressive groups urge Democrat not to support Trump’s tax reform goals
By Rebecca Savransky - 09-02-17 10:20 AM EDT

A series of progressive groups are launching a campaign calling on constituents to urge Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) to support tax policies that benefit the middle class after he broke with his party to corporate tax cuts last month.

The groups - which include Not One Penny, MoveOn, Indivisible and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee - announced on Saturday a five-figure television campaign in Ryan's congressional district.

The campaign comes after Ryan last month argued for tax simplification and a cut to the corporate tax rate, also top goals advocated by President Trump for Republicans in tax reform.

"I think we need to simplify the tax code, I think we need to lower the corporate tax rate," the Ohio Democrat said on MSNBC. "We can't just be the party of redistribution of wealth, we've got to be the party of creation of wealth."

Ryan earned kudos for his stance from conservatives and criticism from progressive groups.

The executive director of Tax March said in a statement that Ryan's constituents didn't elect him "so that he could give corporate insiders yet another leg-up on small businesses and middle class families."

"We're hopeful that Congressman Ryan will stand up for policies that protect Main Street, and the working class Americans who put him in office," Nicole Gill said.

Angel Padilla of the Indivisible Project said the American people are "sick and tired of rules written by and for big corporations."

Last week, a group aligned with House GOP leadership unveiled an ad thanking Ryan for expressing a desire to make changes to the tax code.

Tax reform is a top legislative priority for congressional Republicans and the White House this fall. Many congressional Democrats have expressed an interest in working with Republicans on a tax-code overhaul and agree that the corporate tax rate should be lowered.

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