Rep. Levin Issues Statement on Tax Conference

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 -- Rep. Sander Levin, D-Michigan, a House conferee on the pending tax bill, issued the following statement regarding the House-Senate conference on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1):

"While the tax conference committee will not have its first official meeting until tomorrow, Republicans are meeting behind closed doors to finalize their bill -- discussing whether large corporations and the very wealthy will receive nearly all, or almost all, of the tax benefits.

"The middle class is dramatically being left behind, and in some cases, run over by the Republican tax bill."

Democrats will hold a forum on Wednesday to review the impact of GOP proposals on middle-class families and the U.S. economy. There are many areas of significant concern, including:

* The enormous tilt of tax breaks to the very wealthy in both the House and Senate bills - the biggest tax windfall for the very rich in modern history;

* The millions of middle-class families who will face tax increases either immediately given the elimination or reduction of tax credits for education, health care, and state and local taxes (the effect of which is masked by averaging tax changes across groups rather than individuals), or over time because of bracket creep under the new, reduced inflation measure for the tax brackets and/or the sunsetting of certain provisions.

* The massive new tax loopholes that will be created, especially under provisions related to pass-through business income, and current loopholes that are not closed, such as the carried interest provision for wealthy investment managers, which President Trump promised to end.

* The concern that provisions in these bills will increase, rather than reduce, the offshoring of US jobs and companies by increasing the incentive to move to tax havens.

* The rise in health insurance premiums that the Congressional Budget Office projects will occur under the repeal of the individual mandate, and which AARP estimates will raise premiums in 2019 by an average of $1,500 for Americans aged 50-64.

* The massive amount of new debt the GOP tax changes will generate even under the Joint Committee on Taxation's most optimistic projections.

* And finally, the pressure this debt will apply to cut Medicare and other essential programs.