Groups in 30+ Cities to Demand Romney-Ryan & Congressional Republicans Abandon Effort to Extend Bush Tax Cuts for the Richest 2%

Campaign Releases Powerful Animated Web Ad Criticizing Romney-Ryan Tax Plan, GOP Votes to Give Six-Figure Checks to Millionaires, Raise Taxes on Middle Class  

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- National and state groups today released hard-hitting web ads and are staging protests in more than 30 cities against the Mitt Romney-Paul Ryan tax plan to make the Bush-era tax cuts permanent for the richest 2 percent and members of Congress who recently voted for a Republican bill to extend the Bush tax cuts for the richest 2 percent. 

The protests, most of which are outside GOP offices, feature five-foot posters of six-figure checks payable to "Millionaires" from Mitt Romney and from GOP members of Congress who voted to extend the Bush tax cuts for the richest 2 percent. The sponsors of the protests and web ads include the Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund, Health Care for America Now, the Alliance of Retired Americans, Working America and numerous state groups.

"Americans nationwide are sending an unequivocal message: they refuse to pick up the tab for more tax cuts for the richest Americans like Mitt Romney, who already get the biggest tax breaks," said Frank Clemente, campaign manager for Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund. "They're demanding that the wealthiest few pay their fair share just like the rest of us do.  It starts with ending the Bush tax cuts for the richest 2 percent."

The hard-hitting web ads the groups released illustrate with painful clarity the way in which Romney-Ryan and nearly every Republican in Congress want to lavish special tax breaks on their wealthiest supporters. Below is a sample script for the web ads targeting Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and members of Congress:

"Did you know that Paul Ryan, who's running for Vice President, recently voted to give millionaires an average tax break of $160,000 a year?  He also voted to raise taxes on 25 million working families! And Mitt Romney would give an even bigger tax cut to millionaires. Tell Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney to stop giving huge tax breaks to millionaire donors, paid for by slashing priorities like Medicare and education. It's time for the richest 2 percent to pay their fair share. Find out more at: www.ChecksForMillionaires.com." 

"The Romney-Ryan tax plan would end Medicare as we know it by turning it into a voucher program, costing seniors thousands of dollars in additional medical costs in the future," said Edward F. Coyle, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans. "It's not right to give tax cuts to the wealthiest few at the expense of seniors and struggling families."

Politicians targeted by name in the web ads include GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney & VP nominee/Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, Iowa Rep. Tom Latham, Minnesota Rep. Chip Cravaack, New Hampshire Reps. Frank Guinta and Charles Bass, New Jersey Rep. Jon Runyan, Nevada Sen. Dean Heller, New York Reps. Ann Marie Buerkle and Nan Hayworth, and Ohio Reps. Bill Johnson and Jim Renacci. (You can view these videos at: www.checksformillionaires.com/full-list and the video about nearly every GOP member voting to extend Bush tax cuts for the richest 2 percent at: www.checksformillionaires.com/congress).

The GOP bill to extend the Bush tax cuts for one year, including the tax breaks that only would go to the richest 2 percent, would give people who make more than $1 million a year an average tax cut of $160,000, while raising taxes on 25 million working Americans by ending a tax credit that helps make college affordable (the American Opportunity Tax Credit) and ending improvements to the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit, according to The National Economic Council.

The Romney-Ryan tax plan, which would make the Bush-era tax cuts permanent, including those that only go to the richest 2 percent, and cut their marginal income tax rates by another 20 percent, would give people who make more than $1 million an average tax cut of $250,000, according to Citizens for Tax Justice, while increasing taxes on families making less than $200,000 a year by an average of $2,000 a year, according to the Tax Policy Center.  

"Romney and Ryan are pursuing a comprehensive plan to undermine the economic security of America's families in order to pay for tax cuts for the rich and big corporations," said Ethan Rome, executive director of Health Care for America Now. "The Republicans would rather end Medicare as we know it, gut Medicaid, kick millions of seniors out of nursing homes and shift billions of dollars of costs to the states than ask corporations and the super-rich to pay their fair share of taxes."

Tax fairness is expected to be a major issue in the November election. The Pew Research Center released a national poll last month showing that 58 percent of respondents believe the rich (defined by the median as those earning $150,000 or more) are under-taxed; only 8 percent say they pay too much.  Ending the Bush tax cuts for the richest 2 percent would raise nearly $1 trillion in revenues over 10 years.

"Americans clearly recognize that ending these Bush tax cuts is a desperately-needed, common-sense step to protect working-family priorities such as educating our children, job training, rebuilding our crumbling bridges and roads, affordable healthcare and a secure retirement," said Karen Nussbaum, Working America Executive Director.

Below is a list of the states and politicians whom today's protests are targeting.

Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund (ATFAF) is a project organized under 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) is a project of the New Venture Fund, which is organized under 501(c)(3) of the IRC. The more than 150 organizations that comprise Americans for Tax Fairness operate separately from the activities of Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund.

SOURCE Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund