By EMILY GOLDEN-FIELDS AND CHRIS CLAPIS

It's beginning to look a lot like class war.

Last Sunday, the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America gathered in downtown Portland to sing carols rewritten to reflect the rising rage against the Republican tax bill that passed this week. Songs included new takes on classics - "Away in a Mansion," "Have Yourself a Nasty Little Tax Scam" and "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Class War." The fun, friendly atmosphere was temporary respite from the oncoming wave of wealth redistribution that this legislation will bring, transferring money from the pockets of the many to the few.

The tax plan is the largest one-time tax cut for corporations in U.S. history; almost $1 trillion dollars. It transfers hundreds of billions to the wealthy and corporations, while neglecting needed resources for social services and infrastructure. Not only that, it significantly reduces the tax burden on so-called "pass through" businesses such as S Corporations and partnerships owned by real estate developers like, you guessed it, President Trump himself. Trump owns more than 500 of these pass-through entities, as do many in Congress.

Meanwhile, families making less than $75,000 a year will pay more taxes, not less, over the life of the bill. The plan eliminates personal exemptions; so, while today you can claim a $4,050 personal exemption for yourself, your spouse and each dependent, lowering your taxable income and tax burden, the tax plan offsets and eliminates any of the already minimal benefits offered by its other provisions.

The legislation also could trigger $400 hundred billion in cuts to Medicare over the next 10 years due to a federal act mandating automatic reductions in certain programs when new laws - such as this tax legislation -increases the deficit. That could thereby prevent any possibility of enacting Medicare for all. In addition, The Center for American Progress Estimates that 178,000 Oregonians could lose health insurance as a result.

So much for draining the swamp of special interests. The truth is that Trump and other supporters of this bill aren't interested in doing any of that. Instead, this bill escalates an ongoing war against working class Americans. The goals are clear: deregulate the economy, destroy unions, decrease taxes on the rich and corporations, defund public goods, and police the poor, particularly people of color.

We are experiencing an era of record inequality and widespread economic instability for working people throughout the United States. But our Congress, backed by wealthy donors, is now passing a bill that takes from the many to line the pockets of billionaires. And this is not just about Republicans. Mainstream leaders in the Democratic Party have acquiesced to these approaches over the last few decades.

Our elected leaders who want to do better must rise and resist or get out of the way. Basic human needs can only be served if we fight for a truly fair economic system that taxes the rich and corporations. This tax heist moves us in the opposite direction, gutting the wealth of working people and furthering the gap between rich and poor.

A growing number of people, in Portland and around the country, want a society oriented to the common good, providing equal access to economic power so that the many can flourish - not an ultra-wealthy few. We'll continue fighting for shared economic and political power now, in 2018, and beyond, and hope others in Portland will join us.

Emily Golden-Fields and Chris Clapis of Southeast Portland are members of the Democratic Socialists of America - Portland chapter.