Showing posts with label Sen. Ron Johnson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sen. Ron Johnson. Show all posts

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Fight for a humane tax plan and healthcare: Share your personal story with these maverick senators


First, Senator Ron Johnson, an arch-conservative from Wisconsin, came out against the Republican Party's misguided plan to cut taxes for the wealthy and sabotage Obamacare.1 Then, 13 Republicans voted against the House tax bill. Now, Republican Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski seem to be leaning our way, and a new analysis shows the Senate tax plan will actually RAISE taxes on the poor and the middle class--a huge political blow to the bill's chances.2,3

If Sens. Collins, Murkowski, and Johnson vote no, the bill is dead. That's why we're making Senate phones ring off the hook in Washington, D.C., and organizing our members in key states to tell their stories about what this tax DEFORM plan would mean for them.

Desperate for a win, Senator Mitch McConnell and Trump are pushing to pass their rich-person giveaway when they come back after Thanksgiving. That means we've got just one week to raise hell in Maine, Arizona, Nevada, and Alaska--the same kind of organizing that helped us kill Trumpcare earlier this year.

But just like this summer, we have to keep the pressure on senators from these states. We've got the cold hard facts: 13 million will lose their health insurance.4 Americans earning less than $75,000 a year will see their taxes INCREASE.5

We have to back up those facts with the stories of real people, real voters, who can't afford for this dangerous tax plan to become law.

- UltraViolet Action

Sources:

1. GOP tax plan in trouble after Republican senator says he won’t back it, The Washington Post, November 15, 2017
2. Why Republicans may have lost Susan Collins in their tax reform fight, Bangor Daily News, November 16, 2017
3. Murkowski Tax Vote Contingent on Stabilizing Individual Health Insurance Market, Roll Call, November 17, 2017
4. Repealing the Individual Health Insurance Mandate: An Updated Estimate, Congressional Budget Office, November 8, 2017
5. $1.5 Trillion Tax Cut Passed by House in Mostly Party-Line Vote, The New York Times, November 16, 2017

Does the #GOPTaxPlan treat corporations and individuals the same in terms of who gets to keep deductions and who doesn’t? Nope, not even close. WATCH VIDEO.

You can contact Sen. McCain at his Tucson Office:
(520) 670-6334
Fax: (855) 952-8702

One way to reach him is to share you personal stories on his website:

https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-form

Here's mine for inspiration:

Dear Senator McCain,

I live in Tucson where so many of your constituents are living paycheck to paycheck. They are one medical emergency from going bankrupt and losing their homes. Everyday I see more and more homeless people - some vets, some people who had to quit their jobs to care for a sick loved one, some who had a medical emergency. I'm urging you to take care of vulnerable Tucsonans. It is just heartless to pass a huge tax cut for the wealthiest Americans on the back of the most vulnerable. Why are you raising taxes on married couples who make less that $19050 a year? When my husband left me, I struggled to get by on spousal support. No one would hire me because I had been a stay at home mom. I could have easily become homeless. So many of us are just one emergency away from being homeless.

My parents in Missouri are just getting by on their limited retirement plan and social security.  My dad recently had gallbladder surgery. He could not have had that surgery without the help of Medicare.  They finally had to get a home health aide. That is also paid for by Medicare. This immoral tax plan even cuts the dependent deduction that enables families to take care of their elderly parents at home AND the deduction for their medical expenses. How are people supposed to get by? 

Senator McCain, please, don't take away our healthcare or make it even harder on the poor. I know you are a moral man; vote your conscious. Vote no on that cruel tax bill.

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

5 Republican Senators have concerns about Trumpcare. Let's encourage them to do the right thing.


By now we've all heard that the Senate healthcare bill (that was drafted in secret) is even meaner than the House bill. If we want to make sure that all Americans have the best, most cost efficient healthcare, it is vital that we keep abreast of what is going on regarding this bill. Unfortunately, not all of us have time (or the legal understanding) to read all 142 pages. Thankfully, Senator Chris Murphy points out some important points. You can follow along on the proposed bill here

Pg. 39 – section on cuts to Medicaid starts.

Pg. 7 – section about tax credits for healthcare going down.

Pg. 134 – section that puts an age tax on older Americans. Right now insurance companies can’t charge the elderly more than 3 times what it can charge younger Americans. In this bill it goes up 5X more for older Americans.

Pg. 136 - waiver section that allows States to get rid of protections including the Essential Healthcare Benefits Protection that forces insurance companies to provide a minimum amount of healthcare such as maternity care, mental illness, and prescription drugs.

Around pg. 29 are the tax cuts. The bill is designed to give a giant tax cut to millionaires, billionaires, insurance companies and drug companies. If you make under $200,000 dollars a year, you get almost nothing from this bill.

Thank you, Sen. Chris Murphy for breaking that down for us!

Every American needs to listen to former secretary of labor, Robert Reich, as he explains what is in the Senate's healthcare bill and what it means to us.

Over the next decade, the bill gives a 33 billion dollar tax cut to the 400 wealthiest families in America – in a time when the rich are wealthier than they have ever been before. The cost is to the rest of us - a quarter of a million people will lose their Medicaid.

If this healthcare plan is enacted, it will be the single biggest transfer of wealth from the middle class and the poor to the rich in the history of this country!

If this bill passes, the Republicans who voted for it will bear the burden of hundreds of thousands of deaths. Let's save them from themselves. 


What can we do about it?

There are fifty-two republicans in the senate. We need to get 4 or 5 Republican members of congress to deflect. There are five Republican senators who already have misgivings about this bill. Three can stop this bill in its tracks. Contact them now and tell them how this bill will affect you and how much you appreciate their integrity.  Ask them to vote no on this bill.

Capitol switchboard.: 202-224-3121

Your call will be even more effective if you are aware of their concerns – so you can appeal to them.

Sen. Dean Heller (Nevada)


https://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=DF84A2F9-93B3-46EF-ABE5-BD2C762BFBAA

Sen. Ron Johnson (Wisconsin) 
On his page, he wrote how the senate healthcare bill fails. If you are going to talk to him, you should read this to know where he stands.

https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/public/

Sen. Susan Collins (Maine)

Sen. Collins is a moderate. She said that she won’t vote for the bill in its current form. Call to thank her.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2017/06/26/susan-collins-says-she-can-support-republican-health-bill-its-current-form/4yiZNWlOxRyXf8DVeafMGK/story.html

https://www.collins.senate.gov/

Although talking to our Arizona Senators (if you’re not a millionaire or banker) often feels like running into a brick wall, you can try reminding them about how badly a similar Medicaid plan worked out here in Arizona.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2017/06/arizona_provides_a_bleak_preview_of_america_under_the_ahca.html

Sen. Jeff Flake (Arizona):  (202) 224-4521

https://www.flake.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-jeff

Check out his page for his stance on Healthcare:

https://www.flake.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/healthcare-and-education

Sen. John McCain (Arizona) (202) 224-2235

https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-form

https://trumpcaretoolkit.org/