They're Baaack — and Still Fighting for Irresponsible Tax Giveaways

by Reggie Oldak, Senior Counsel
National Women’s Law Center

A coalition of business groups that fought for irresponsible tax giveaways for the rich in 2001 and 2003 has returned to rail against President Obama’s budget priorities.

They call themselves the Tax Relief Coalition. Make no mistake: they’re only interested in tax breaks for corporations and the super-wealthy. They’re not really for anything other than that, but they are in “unequivocal opposition” to the budget released by the President, a budget that puts the needs of women and their families ahead of special interests.

As President Obama said this week, it’s important “that we make sure we don't find ourselves in this situation again, where taxpayers are on the hook for losses in bad times, and all the wealth generated in good times goes to those who are at the very top of the income ladder. That's the kind of ethic we've had for too long. That's the kind of approach that led us into this mess. That is something we have to change if we're truly going to turn our economy around and move this country forward.”

For the past eight years, the National Women's Law Center has opposed Administration budgets that cut supports for vulnerable women and children and neglected fundamental needs while redistributing resources to the very wealthiest and piling up debt.  President Obama’s budget sets a dramatically different course. It turns away from the failed economic policies of the past and makes investments critical to our families and our future. It makes a serious down payment on comprehensive health reform, invests in education – starting with the first years of life – provides additional supports for those who are most vulnerable, and strengthens civil rights enforcement and worker protections. And it does so in a fair and responsible way: by cutting corporate subsidies, closing corporate tax loopholes, and beginning to make the very wealthy pay their fair share of taxes.

Predictably, the special interests are mobilizing to hang on to their tax breaks, their subsidies, and their padded contracts – and defeat President Obama's budget. They must be hoping that all the people that their policies have failed are too busy struggling to make ends meet to fight back. We hope you’ll join us, and the many others in the Rebuild and Renew America Now coalition, and speak out for new priorities.