Tax Cuts for Millionaires But Not the Middle Class

Yet another poll released yesterday shows that Americans support raising taxes on the richest among us. But Republican politicians keep doing the opposite: defending tax giveaways for millionaires and big corporations and attacking anyone who wants to take them away - or give tax cuts to anyone else.

CORE MESSAGE

When Washington Republicans say they want tax cuts, they only mean for millionaires and big corporations - not for working Americans.

Connect: Millionaires and billionaires are doing just fine, but our middle class is struggling.

Explain: Holding up the President's jobs and payroll tax cut plan takes money out of the pockets of working Americans and small businesses. That means fewer customers for our stores and less hiring.

Define: Washington Republicans love to fight for tax cuts - except when they're for working Americans.

Expose: Making middle-class Americans pay MORE taxes so millionaires can pay LESS taxes makes no sense - unless you're a politician and those millionaires paid for your campaign.

Words to use: Middle class, Tax giveaways for millionaires and big corporations
Words to avoid: Individuals making over $250,000

Tweet: GOP: tax cuts only good for millionaires and not for ppl who work for a living. #GOPHypocrisy

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ATTACKS AND RESPONSES

"The President's payroll tax cut will make our debt problems worse."

• If Washington Republicans were serious about deficits, they wouldn't have fought so hard for the Bush tax cuts and two unfunded wars that led to the record deficits we're dealing with today.
• They liked the payroll tax cut until President Obama came along. If they're just trying to keep the economy from getting better on Obama's watch, then they're getting it done.
• Putting Americans back to the work is the best way to handle our debt. The President's plan does just that - it makes it easier for small businesses to hire and puts Americans on the job right away fixing our bridges, roads, and schools.

"Raising taxes on job creators hurts job creation."

• We tried "trickle down" and it doesn't work. More tax giveaways for millionaires and big corporations just mean more money for millionaires and big corporations - not jobs for Americans.
• When Presidents Reagan, Bush Sr., and Clinton told millionaires and big corporations to pay their fair share in taxes, it was followed by millions of new jobs and strong economic growth.
• The President's plan will put more dollars into the pockets of middle-class Americans and small businesses. That puts more customers in our stores and makes hiring more affordable. That's just common sense - and what our economy needs right now.

"The President is waging class warfare with his tax cuts."

• No middle-class family should have to pay higher taxes than any millionaire. But Republican politicians are fighting to do the opposite.
• America was founded as a country where we reward hard work more than how much money anyone's family has. But right now, a paycheck earned from working in a job is taxed higher than the money that millionaires and billionaires make off money they already have.
• As Warren Buffett tells it, the only "class warfare" in America is being waged by his class - and they're winning.

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Over the past three decades, middle class Americans have seen their incomes stagnate and the poorest Americans have gotten poorer.
• But millionaires and billionaires are now raking in higher incomes and skyrocketing bonuses while paying the lowest income tax rates in generations.
• The divide between the richest and the poorest in America is about as bad as in Rwanda and Serbia. In fact, income inequality is worse in America than it is in nearly all of Europe and Asia and much of Africa.
• This is no accident. Even Warren Buffett says we should "stop coddling" millionaires and billionaires with tax giveaways for the sake of the country. Over a hundred "patriotic millionaires" in America agree.
• Millionaires and billionaires can afford to pay more in taxes. The richest 400 Americans have more wealth than half of all Americans combined and also pay a smaller share of their income in taxes than average Americans like their secretaries.
• Many millionaires pay a smaller share of their incomes in federal income and payroll taxes than large swaths of the middle class.
• 27 major national polls show that Americans believe we need to raise taxes, including a recent poll that shows 70 percent want to end wasteful tax giveaways to corporations and millionaires.
• Corporations are paying lower taxes than ever, raking in all-time high profits, and hoarding record piles of cash.
• Though our economy actually grew in 2009 and 2010, almost all of the economic growth went to pad corporate profits instead of increasing the American workers' incomes.
• We've tried "trickle down" and it didn't work. Corporate tax giveaways don't create jobs, and more of the Bush tax giveaways to millionaires won't create jobs either.

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.