Putting the 1% First

It's not just Republicans in Congress. Washington Republicans' refusal to put money in the pockets of everyday working Americans to create jobs instead of protecting tax giveaways for millionaires is right in line with their top presidential hopeful.

QUOTE TO REMEMBER

"I'm not looking to put money in people's pockets." - Mitt Romney

CORE MESSAGE

Whether it's Millionaire Mitt, or millionaires in Congress, Republican politicians put the wealthiest 1% first.

Connect:  Working Americans are struggling and our middle class is getting crushed -- our leaders need to put them first.

Define:  But Republican politicians keep protecting millionaires and the richest 1% instead of fighting for Americans who work for a living.

Illustrate: They're willing to take jobs away from American workers and money away from small business owners just to protect millionaire tax giveaways.

Contrast: Millionaire tax giveaways don't create jobs. More dollars in the pockets of middle-class Americans means our businesses will have more customers -- and that means more hiring.

Values: We all do better when we all do better. Politicians who look out for the wealthiest 1% instead of all Americans have no business leading America.

Words to use: Romney is Mr. 1%
Millionaire Mitt, Tax giveaways for millionaires,
Americans who work for a living, Reward work instead of wealth

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• While Mitt Romney was making his millions, he laid off thousands of workers and in the words of a colleague, "had a scheme where the rich got richer." That's the Romney Way -- making the richest 1% richer by laying off workers.
• Romney claims to be part of the middle class, even though his net worth is estimated to be up to $250 million. The average wealth of the 1% is 225 times bigger than the wealth of the typical household -- the highest it's ever been.
• Romney says he's "proposing no tax cuts for the rich," but actually, his proposal would be a $6.6 trillion windfall for the wealthiest few and big corporations.
• Romney admits he's "not looking to put money in people's pockets" -- nor are the Washington Republicans who voted last week to put millionaire tax giveaways ahead of putting money in the pockets of all working Americans.
• The Romney Rule says millionaires should get to pay lower taxes than middle-class workers, even though millionaires are raking in record higher incomes while paying historically low income tax rates. In contrast, earnings for middle-class Americans actually fell over the past decade.
• Poll after poll show most Americans agree we need to raise taxes -- including 60% of evangelical Christians who favor raising taxes on millionaires.

THE PHOTO THAT SAYS IT ALL

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.