Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who represents the West Side of Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, released the following statement regarding the newly released details of the House GOP tax bill:

“Today, the Republicans announced a tax plan that would funnel billions of dollars in tax benefits to the wealthiest Americans and the largest corporations at the expense of working families. Their plan would hit my constituents in Manhattan and Brooklyn especially hard. It eliminates the deduction for state and local income and sales taxes, caps the existing deductions for state and local property taxes and for the mortgage interest deduction at amounts too limited for middle income New Yorkers, and ends the student loan and medical expense deductions. And, although it increases the standard deduction, it eliminates personal exemptions, increasing taxes for many low-income people (especially those with large families). At the same time, it would slash the corporate tax rate to 20 percent, eliminate the estate tax, and still blow a $1.5 trillion hole in the deficit.

“Republicans claim that some magical economic growth will follow these massive tax cuts for billionaires, and make up for this lost revenue. But that’s a lie. We have played this game twice before. The same promises were made for the Reagan and Bush tax cuts, but the results were massive deficits. This is the old “Starve the Beast” strategy. First, give huge tax cuts to the rich, and then use the resulting deficits to justify massive cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, education, and other social services.

“I will support a tax reform plan that makes billionaires and corporations pay their fair share, eliminates loopholes that encourage companies to move jobs overseas, and invests in working families. The Republican tax scam is not that plan, and I will not support it.”

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