Taxes, taxes, taxes …

Activists around the country from the progressive group Invisible are planning a “national day of action” later this month as a last-ditch effort to defeat a tax bill being considered in the Senate.

The legislation would end the individual mandate to buy healthcare, and a non-partisan analysis has said the bill would result in tax increases on Americans making between $10,000 and $75,000 over the next decade.

There are thousands of Indivisible groups across the country. The organization, which has adopted Tea Party tactics to stop legislation and oust Republican politicians, plans to spring into action on 27 November – the first day the Senate is back in session after recess.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Donald Trump and Mike Pence leave the Capitol after meeting with members of Congress on the GOP tax reform bill on Thursday. Photograph: UPI / Barcroft Images

“We are encouraging Indivisible groups to plan sit-ins at as many of their Senators’ regional offices as they can around the state. Statewide actions will be the gold standard,” says a statement on Indivisible’s website.

The group has also drafted phone scripts, and is targeting seven senators in particular, including Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine. Both have expressed concern over removing the individual mandate, which the Congressional Budget Office has projected would leave 13 million more people uninsured by 2027.

It comes after Republicans in Congress passed their own, different, tax bill this week which would cut corporate and individual tax rates. Paul Ryan, Donald Trump and company were thrilled. Many others were upset. And not just Democrats.

“The math just doesn’t add up,” said New York US congressman Dan Donovan. “This would be a tax increase for far too many families that I represent.”

While some areas of the country might get tax cuts, at least initially, other states like California and New York, which already have higher taxes, would suffer. Donovan and 12 other Republicans voted against the bill, but it still passed by 227 to 205 votes.

In the meantime …

It’s recess week. Which means people are unlikely to see any of their elected officials. Traditionally one of the purposes of recess week is for senators and congressmen and women to return to their districts and meet with constituents.

The idea is to listen to people’s concerns, answer questions about how they’ve been voting, that kind of thing.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Angry scenes at a Tom MacArthur town hall this summer. Photograph: Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images

But Republican members of Congress, in particular, have largely stopped doing that this year, after a series of rowdy town halls around the country.

At the time of writing, six congresspeople were planning to hold town halls, according to the Town Hall Project. Just two Republican senators – Jerry Moran (Kansas) and Cory Gardner (Colorado) – have public events scheduled. The details are available here. The Town Hall Project is encouraging people to head out.

Town Hall Project (@townhallproject) Just a single GOP senator has a town hall scheduled.



Kansans, even if you're pessimistic about his vote on this reckless tax bill, Sen. Jerry Moran needs to hear from you on 11/22 and 11/25. Other senators *will* be listening and your voices will carry far beyond Kansas.

What we’re reading

• There is just one abortion clinic in Kentucky, CNN reported this week. And that could be on the verge of closure. “States across the country have added more restrictions on abortion access and clinics,” the report by Holly Yan says. “And one by one, clinics have shut down under the weight of hefty regulations, threats to doctors’ safety and violence.”

• Those tax cuts included in the Trump-GOP bill are overwhelmingly designed to help the rich, Steven Greenhouse writes in the Guardian. Of the tax cuts, Greenhouse says: “The bottom 60% of Americans would get just 14% of the cuts in 2027, less than a third of what the top 1% gets.”

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