These days, there seems to be a dedicated march for every hot-button issue of political import — from the Women’s March to the March for Science to the call for gun control dubbed the March for Our Lives.

Folks even organized around Tax Day this year to protest the $1.5 trillion Republican tax cut. The so-called Tax March saw events on Sunday stretching from outside President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in West Palm Beach to New York to Los Angeles.

In downtown San Diego, several dozen people gathered in front of the federal building on Front Street, which houses an Internal Revenue Service office, carrying signs that read “Repeal the Trump tax” and “Don’t cut social services to pay for the tax cuts.”

“We’re out here to oppose the Trump tax and tax scam that is going to financially devastate our country, all to give tax cuts to the richest 1 percent,” Steve Timberman, an organizer with SoCal Healthcare Coalition, told a small but passionate crowd.


According to the Congressional Budget Office, while American taxpayers and corporations will save roughly $1.5 trillion in taxable income over the next 10 years, the cuts could increase the federal debt by $1.9 trillion.

Supporters of the tax bill have said that despite any lost federal revenue, the country as a whole will benefit as the cuts spur economic and wage growth.

Following passage of the legislation in December, a number of corporate giants, such as Walmart, AT&T and Southwest Airlines, announced they planned to pass along some savings to their employees.

Walmart in particular made a show of announcing its starting wage would increase from $9 to $11, a move that also closely tracked efforts by the country’s largest corporate taxpayer to compete for workers with rival retailers, such as Target.


Retired school teacher Laura Fuentes seemed unimpressed by promises of trickle-down economics. The 63-year-old said she came to Sunday’s event because she’s concerned that slashing taxes will trigger severe cuts to social spending in the future.

“I’ve heard they’re talking about cutting people off Medicare,” she said. “They’re going to have to do something to pay for the big tax cuts they’re gave the rich.”

Yusef Miller, a Navy veteran now working with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, echoed those concerns: “We should be funding these nonprofits to house our homeless. These are Americans. These are our children.

“We see people who can’t get food. We see families on the streets. Yet, we’re going to give tax breaks to the people who are cushioned,” he added.


According to an April report from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, signed into law by Trump in December, will in the short term give the poorest 20 percent of Americans an extra $60 a year on average, while the richest quintile would save on average more than $7,600 annually.

As provisions in the legislation expire, the bottom 60 percent of income earners are expected to actually see a net tax increase by 2027, according to the center’s report, which also included contributions from the Brookings Institution and Urban Institute.

While most of the tax cuts for individuals phase out over time, those for corporations are largely permanent, according to the report.

As with many of the national marches and protests seen in the last 18 months, the Tax March also included a call for voters to turn out for this fall’s mid-term elections.


Valarie McCourtney, a speech language pathologist who showed up at the march in San Diego, called out by name local Republicans in Congress who voted for the tax cuts.

“Mimi Walters, Steve Knight and Duncan Hunter,” said the 55-year-old, “we are here to repeal you and your greedy obstructionist party’s very destructive tax scam.”

The recent announcement that House Speaker Paul Ryan will not seek reelection has reinforced the idea that November’s elections could see a landslide of victories for Democrats.

As of April, 55 representatives, including 38 Republicans and 17 Democrats, have said they will not seek reelection, the highest number in the last 25 years, according to the Pew Research Center.



Twitter: @jemersmith

Phone: (619) 293-2234

Email: joshua.smith@sduniontribune.com