It’s Tax Day–grrrrrrr–and I’m grumpy about it. I mean, I don’t like paying taxes. But, I do like having roads to drive on, reliable mail delivery, a public school system, bridges, and let’s not forget about sewers, because where is all our ? gonna go? Even though I’m not happy about it, at least I know that I’m contributing to the functioning of my city, state, and country.

What really makes me mad about Tax Day is the yearly reminder that while I’m paying my part and playing by the rules, the richest one percent and corporations aren’t paying their fair share of taxes.

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Our Tax System is Rigged to Benefit the Richest One Percent and Wealthy Corporations   

Conservatives on the national and state level have systematically designed our tax systems to bail out rich people and corporations, bankrupt our budgets, and underfund programs that communities depend on to thrive.

Let’s start with Trump, who with his conservative cronies in Congress, passed a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. tax system at the end of 2017.

Even though Trump promised the tax cut would benefit middle-class Americans, the tax reform was actually written to line the pockets of the top one percent of Americans, corporations, and their stockholders. While millionaires and billionaires receive massive tax cuts, a majority of working families are feeling no benefit and face cuts to critically-needed social programs.

To make matters worse, conservatives in Virginia’s General Assembly just passed a Trump-style tax reform bill that benefits the wealthiest Virginians and leaves the rest of us with crumbs. Last year, Virginia received a $1.2 billion tax windfall from the federal government. There was much talk from Governor Northam of giving back the extra money to low-income workers in the form of a refundable tax credit.

Well, you know what happened. After scandals rocked Virginia’s leadership during the legislative session, Northam cozied up with Republicans, ditched all talk of helping low-income Virginians, and supported the Republican tax plan.

This tax plan will give nothing to Virginia’s low-income residents, but will send $110 to wealthy individuals and $220 to wealthy couples later this year. That’s what they call tax relief?

That’s just a drop in the bucket for many wealthy residents of the Commonwealth. Wouldn’t it have been better if that money had been used to invest in our schools, hire more teachers, and do other things like fund Census outreach? It’s obvious that conservatives on the national and state level aren’t interested in creating budgets that focus on equity. Instead they want to fatten the wallets of people like them–the wealthy.

It’s time that we stop bailing out the richest one percent and giving hand-outs to wealthy corporations. We need an economy that works for all of us–not the elites. Progress Virginia is working with organizations across the Commonwealth to develop Virginia For All of Us– a campaign to stand up to the politicians and special interests that have rigged the rules against working families. Sign up to learn more and be citizen cosponor for Virginia For All of Us today!