Tell Congress: It's time to put Bush-era tax breaks for the wealthy to bed.

Congress is back in session, and our elected leaders have some critical votes to cast, and some important priorities to define.

KFTC has long supported policies that help us create the Kentucky that we all want: good, safe, communities; good, secure jobs; and good schools—all the things that we pay for with our public dollars. We support taxation that is balanced, fair, and reasonable.  In that spirit, KFTC endorses letting the Bush era tax cuts for the wealthy expire at the end of the year.

• These tax breaks have cost Kentuckians.  Before the cuts, the federal government shared revenue from the estate tax with the states.  The LRC estimates that here in Kentucky, our General Fund has been shorted around $50 million a year due to the phase-out of the federal estate tax.  
  


• In 1979, the richest 1 percent took home almost 9% of the income.  Today, this richest 1 percent takes home a whopping 24% of income.  It's time for economic policies that don't widen the gap between the very rich and everyone else.


• Continuing these tax cuts for the wealthy will cost upwards of $700 billion dollars.

Take Action!

Call Senators Bunning and McConnell and your representative at 1-800-830-5738. Leave a message for them telling them that you're a constituent, and it’s time to stand for economic policies that work for all of us, not just the richest 2%, and that you support letting the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy expire on schedule.

p.s. Instead of giving $700 billion away in tax breaks to the wealthy, Congress could use part of it to put Americans back to work.  Many of the same members of Congress who are fighting to hang on to these tax breaks for the rich are blocking unemployment insurance for folks who lost their jobs during the recession and haven’t been able to find work.  These benefits will expire on November 30th unless Congress acts.  To take action to extend unemployment insurance, check out this link from today's action alert from Citizens for Tax Justice.