The 2010 Tax Fight: USAction, Affiliates and Allies Launch National Day of Action to Press for an End to Tax Cuts for the Wealthiest 2 Percent

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- USAction, its state affiliates and partners on Thursday will launch a national day of action aimed at supporting the Obama tax cut for middle-income and working families and opposing continuing tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

Across the country, USAction affiliates are meeting with elected officials, engaging in community forums, gathering signatures, sending post cards and mobilizing their Facebook and Twitter accounts to send a message to Congress: working families need relief but the wealthiest 2 percent don't need yet another tax break.

In addition, USAction on Thursday is contacting its hundreds of thousands of online members and asking them to use a "click-to-call" tool to contact their members of Congress to put a stop to the failed tax policies of the George W. Bush era.

"Millions of people are out of work and small businesses are hurting," said USAction Program  Director Cassandra McKee. "Yet John Boehner and Mitch McConnell want to spend $700 billion dollars over the next ten years to extend the tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of taxpayers. This is the tax fight of 2010. Will we travel a path that is unaffordable and unsustainable or will we bring fiscal responsibility to Washington?"

McKee added that the current debate is not about who gets a tax cut. Under President Obama's proposal, the wealthiest Americans, like middle-income Americans, will receive a tax break on their first $200,000 of income (or $250,000 if filing jointly). "What some in Washington are asking for isn't a tax cut for the rich," McKee noted. "Rather, it's two tax cuts for the rich. We know our priority should be providing relief to the 98 percent of Americans who need it – not giving the wealthiest 2 percent additional tax cuts on top of what everyone else will receive. Fair is fair and that ain't fair."

USAction is a member of Americans for Responsible Taxes, a national coalition of more than 80 national groups which is participating in Thursday's events. Americans for Responsible Taxes represents concerned communities and working families united to repeal the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest, reinstate the estate tax to at least 2009 levels, close tax loopholes and protect working families by rewarding their work with tax relief.

SOURCE USAction