Nancy Pelosi in RI: GOP tax plan favors billionaires at middle class expense

[caption id="attachment_250" align="alignright" width="400"] Nancy Pelosi[/caption] "Democrats know that a successful middle class is the backbone of our economy," said  Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives (CA-12).  "While Republicans try to rob hard-working Americans of the student loan interest deduction, credits for lifetime learning and tax-free tuition assistance from employers just to give billionaires and corporations tax cuts, Democrats are offering students and working families A Better Deal.  We are committed to giving every American the tools to succeed in the 21st century economy, and are fighting to build an economy that works for everyone, not just the Republicans' corporate and high-end friends." Pelosi had just finished up a tour of the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI)’s advanced manufacturing training facility in Warwick with Representatives David Cicilline (RI-01) and Jim Langevin (RI-02) and  United States Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. The press conference was held in the training facility, despite the loud, never-ending sound of humming training equipment. https://youtu.be/jIrS_yhmK5o The event was organized to critique the GOP tax plan, which will "cut taxes for billionaires and rig the tax-code to benefit wealthy special interests at the expense of working people," said Cicilline's office in a statement. "In addition to raising taxes on the middle class, the Republican plan cuts $5.8 trillion from workforce training, college affordability, health care for veterans, Medicare, Medicaid, and other critical services. It will expand the deficit by $1.5 trillion. And 173,000 Rhode Islanders will see their taxes go up because they will lose the ability to deduct state and local taxes on their federal return." The plan says Cicilline,

• Raises Taxes on the Middle Class – taxes will be raised on millions of families across America.
• Add Trillions to the Debt to Give Tax Cuts to America’s Wealthiest & Corporations – while stripping credits and deductions from middle class families.
• Includes Tax Incentives for Corporations to Ship American Jobs Overseas – eliminating jobs, and driving down American wages & salaries.
• Budget Ransacks Medicare & Medicaid of $1.5 Trillion – GOP will also use new deficits to justify further devastating Medicare & Medicaid.

Rhode Island Republican Party Chairman Brandon Bell did not directly address the above criticisms in the statement he issued Monday about the GOP tax plan. Instead, he focused on the part of the tax plan that will remove tax exemptions on stadiums, which he claims will kill the plan for the new Pawsox  stadium in Pawtucket. "Tax reform will give Rhode Islanders millions in tax relief that they need," said Bell, without noting which Rhode Islanders (the richest, it seems) will see that relief. [caption id="attachment_253" align="aligncenter" width="3324"] David Cicilline and Nancy Pelosi[/caption]