450,000 Jobs At Stake

Later today, the Senate will vote on the President's infrastructure jobs plan, which is paid for by asking millionaires and billionaires to chip in just 0.7% more on the money they make above a million dollars. 

CORE MESSAGE

This is a real choice: put 450,000 Americans back to work OR protect tax giveaways for millionaires that don't create jobs.

Connect: Millionaires are doing just fine, but the roads and bridges we all rely on are crumbling.

Define: The President's plan will put Americans back to work right away rebuilding them -- putting money in the pockets of working Americans and more customers in our stores.

Contrast: Choosing millionaire tax giveaways instead won't create jobs, but that's been the Republican political strategy all along: keeping the economy from getting better on Obama's watch so they have him to blame.

Make them choose: This is a real choice with real consequences: more jobs for their constituents fixing roads and bridges in their own states OR more tax giveaways for the 1%.

ATTACKS AND RESPONSES

"We can't support this infrastructure bill because it raises taxes."

• The President's plan puts 450,000 Americans back on the job right now by asking millionaires and billionaires to chip in just 0.7% more on the money they make above a million dollars.
• It's common sense: millionaires and billionaires are paying the lowest taxes in generations, Americans need jobs, and our businesses need customers.
• When President Clinton told millionaires and big corporations to pay their fair share in taxes, we got millions of new jobs and strong economic growth.

"The last infrastructure stimulus failed - this one will too."

• They should try telling that to the millions of Americans who have jobs because of the stimulus -- including over a million workers in construction and manufacturing.
• Economists say President Obama's jobs plan will put hundreds of thousands of construction workers back to work fixing our crumbling roads and bridges.

"We should pass this bipartisan contractor tax withholding bill for job creators instead."

• Washington Republicans are actually saying this bill is their top jobs priority -- while refusing to back a plan that economists say will create hundreds of thousands of jobs.
• The real story here is that Republicans in Congress are willing to keep 450,000 Americans jobless and let our roads and bridges crumble.
• The choice should be obvious: jobs for Americans rebuilding our roads and bridges OR tax giveaways for millionaires that don't create jobs.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Nearly 3 out of 4 Americans support federal funding to rebuild our infrastructure -- and the Rebuild America Jobs Act would do just that by investing in roads, railways, and airports and spurring more private sector investment in our infrastructure.
• If we don't invest in our crumbling roads, bridges, and airports now, it will cost nearly 1 million Americans their jobs and our economy nearly $1 trillion over the next ten years.
• We don't want America to fall behind, but America spends only half of what Europe spends and just a quarter of what China spends on improving their railways, bridges, and highways.
• Roads, bridges, and highways in Republicans' home states and districts are falling apart and they have supported similar proposals to fix them in the past.
• Millionaires and billionaires are raking in higher incomes and skyrocketing bonuses while paying the lowest income tax rates in generations. Nearly 100,000 American millionaires pay lower income tax rates than millions of middle-class Americans.
• About 30 major national polls show that Americans believe we need to raise taxes, including a recent poll that shows over 75% want to increase the taxes paid by millionaires.

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.