Unfriending America
CORE MESSAGE
Those who do well in America ought to do well by America.
Connect: Working families pay their taxes to Uncle Sam, so it's unfair when billionaires don't.
Explain: Facebook billionaire Eduardo Saverin is turning his back on America just in time to dodge hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes as his company goes public.
Define: We need to end the tax loopholes and giveaways that allow thousands of millionaires, billionaires, and big corporations that benefit the most from America to give back nothing at all.
Discredit: Our taxes pay for the schools that educate the skilled workers companies like Facebook hire and the technology infrastructure they profit off of.
Debunk: Jobs come from our middle class and small businesses, not from the tax loopholes for billionaires trying to dodge taxes on the money made off of wealth that just sits there.
Contrast: Regular families, including hardworking immigrants and small business owners, pay their taxes and contribute to their communities -- picking up the tab for the richest few who don't pay their fair share.
Expose: Politicians aren't getting it if they think those who benefit the most should pay the least and need special tax loopholes regular workers can't get -- as if billionaires didn't have enough already.
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ATTACKS AND RESPONSES
ATTACK: "Democrats like to attack wealthy people for their success."
RESPONSE:
- In America, we celebrate success and want everyone who plays by the rules to do well. And when people do well in America, they should do well by America.
- No one got rich in America on their own. So is it any wonder people think it's wrong when billionaires who owe their success to America are dodging taxes by turning their back on America?
- Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Mike Bloomberg, Nick Hanauer, and hundreds of "patriotic millionaires" say the wealthiest Americans like them should do well by America and pay higher taxes.
ATTACK: "The Facebook example is proof that entrepreneurs are fleeing the U.S. because taxes are too high."
RESPONSE:
- Actually, the taxes paid by the richest of the richest few haven't been this low in 50 years.
- Jobs come from our middle class and small businesses, not from the tax loopholes for billionaires trying to dodge taxes on the money made off of wealth that just sits there.
- America is the greatest country on earth -- but we need everyone pitching in to keep it that way. Those who owe their success to America should pay back their investors, and that's all of us.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- By timing his official move out of the U.S. just before the Facebook IPO, Eduardo Saverin will get to dodge tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes he'd otherwise owe the U.S.
- The richest 400 Americans now have more wealth than half the country, and the richest 0.1% collect half of all capital gains Americans make off of the wealth they already have.
- However, the average tax rate paid by the richest 0.1% is at nearly the lowest rate in over 50 years.
- The tax system will also let Facebook use its IPO to not just dodge all income taxes, but actually get a $500 million refund back from the U.S.
- From just 2009 to 2011, thirty corporations spent nearly $500 million on lobbying, gave over $20 million in campaign contributions to Congress, and dodged over $11 billion in taxes.
- Tax rates overall in America are at historic lows and the U.S. ranks almost last among modern nations in the amount raised from taxpayers as a share of our national economy.
- Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Mike Bloomberg, Nick Hanauer, and hundreds of "patriotic millionaires" say the wealthiest Americans like them should do well by America and pay higher taxes.
- Poll after poll after poll shows that most Americans support proposals like the Buffett Rule to have millionaires and wealthiest few pay higher taxes. More than two-thirds of Americans also think the federal tax system benefits the rich and is unfair to ordinary workers.
We develop messaging by aggregating, analyzing and distilling polling, tested messaging, and expert recommendations, and monitoring the media to identify what is and isn't working. See here for some of the experts and organizations we draw on.
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