Trump Gang Gets Together For One Last Heist: Saving Rich Fu*kwads' Tax Cuts!
A bunch of former Trump administration flunkies are bringing together their unique set of propaganda skills to head an effort to derail Democrats' Build Back Better reconciliation bill, the Washington Post reports. In homage to Trump, they've even given their gang a fairly stupid name, the "Save America Coalition." That tells you a lot: They believe the nation would somehow be destroyed by the Democrats' plan to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, provide services to promote success for working Americans and families, and help move the US away from fossil fuels. The horror the horror.
The effort is hoping to grift some $10 million from a bunch of rightwing dark money groups, and is
being spearheaded by the America First Policy Institute founded earlier this year by former Trump officials, as well as conservative organizations such as the Conservative Partnership Institute, the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and FreedomWorks.
The goal is to run ads and "social media campaigns" — good old astroturf politicking — aimed at swing states and at trying to scare "centrist Democrats" away from voting for the reconciliation bill.
And what a lot of Trumpy star power they have!
Among those leading the Save America Coalition is Brooke Rollins, who led the White House Domestic Policy Council under Trump and is now the CEO of the America First Policy Institute.
Rollins told The Washington Post the campaign will "include all of our key people to fight on every front," including Larry Kudlow, Trump's top economic adviser; Linda McMahon, the former professional wrestling executive who led the Small Business Administration; and Russell Vought, Trump's budget director. Former Trump campaign adviser Stephen Moore is also helping lead the coalition through the Committee to Unleash Prosperity. Kudlow confirmed his involvement in a brief interview and said the phrase "Save America" was his idea for the campaign. [emphasis added]
Damn, they really rolled out the intellectual shock troops for this one. We can hardly wait to see Kudlow bringing his drunk uncle act back to TV, unless of course he feels that coming up with the phrase "save America" was enough heavy lifting for one lifetime.
As of blogtime, it wasn't clear how exactly Donald Trump will get his fingers in the Save America pie — we'll just assume the coalition will hold many important grassroots events at various Trump Organization properties, unless there's a more direct way to funnel money to the Great Man.
Credit to the Post for getting at the reality of the bill's tax provisions:
The Joint Committee on Taxation, Congress's nonpartisan tax scorekeeper, found in an analysis published this week that the Democratic tax committee's proposal would lower the average tax rate for all income groups earning under $200,000 per year. The analysis found that it would rise by 0.2 percent for those earning between $200,000 and $500,000; by 1.6 percent for those earning between $500,000 and $1 million a year; and by 10.6 percent for those earning more than $1 million per year.
Oh my, the middle class will see its taxes cut, what a terrible attack on the middle class!
The main goal of the campaign is simply to create fear and doubt about how terrible it would be if we make the richest Americans and corporations pay their fair share, because to these goons, the best thing for America's prosperity is for the wealthy to keep avoiding taxes at every opportunity.
Stephen Moore — the racist, sexist Trump campaign advisor whom Trump once wanted to put on the Federal Reserve until Trump learned Moore had spoken ill of him — explained that Saving America is all about slowing down the Build Back Better plan for the sake of preserving the economic advantages the donor class have built for themselves since the '80s:
"We're telling donors and other organizations this is 'the war of the worlds' for the conservative movement, because we have to stop this bill," said Moore, who leads the Committee to Unleash Prosperity along with Art Laffer, the supply-side economist whom Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. "This is our pitch to donors: This bill is reversing the 40-year Reagan revolution that has really changed the country."
Reversing 40 years of the Republican class war against everyone but the rich and the corporations?
Well damn, Mr. Moore, thanks for the slogan!
[WaPo]
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