Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Slamming President Trump’s Disastrous Tax Polices Ahead Of His Visit To Las Vegas

Washington, D.C. - Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke on the Senate floor to denounce President Trump and Republicans' disastrous tax policies that benefit the richest Americans while costs soar for American families. Below are Senator Schumer's remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Today, President Trump is in Las Vegas trying to sell the American people on his tax policies and convince them that everything is going just dandy. But the reality for American families is that thanks to his deleterious policies, people are hurting worse than before. Working families are hurting worse than before. Middle class families are hurting worse than before. Overall, because of Trump's policies, people are hurting.

Here's the truth: if you are a hotel or casino owner in Las Vegas, if you are a multi-millionaire, Donald Trump's tax policies have been very good to you. But if you're a hotel staffer, a waiter, a janitor, a Door Dash delivery driver, Trump's tax policies don't come close to undoing the economic damage he's done to you and your family. Again, if you are a hotel or casino owner in Las Vegas, if you are a multi-millionaire, Trump's tax policies have been very, very good to you. But if you're a hotel staffer, a waiter, a janitor, a Door Dash delivery driver, Trump's tax policies don't come close to undoing the economic damage he's done to you and your family.

There are three major reasons Donald Trump's "Big, Ugly Bill" has turned out to be a giant scam for most Americans.

First: Republicans promised their "Big, Ugly Bill" would mean tax refunds of more than $1,000. That promise was false. The average refund is less than one-third of what Republicans promised.

Second: whatever benefit families may have gotten has already been devoured by Trump's policies that have led to higher gas prices, higher grocery bills, and higher electricity costs.

For example: the average tax cut is maybe an extra $350. But thanks to Donald Trump's war in Iran, Americans will pay an extra $740 this year just to fill up their tanks. Just like that, your tax break is gone, America. And that doesn't include the increase to health care costs, grocery costs, housing costs, electricity and so much more. So the tax cut is more than undone by the rise in costs that Americans feel just across the board, so many of them because of Donald Trump's policies.

Third: Donald Trump's "Big, Ugly Bill" is overwhelmingly skewed to benefit the rich. This is an old Republican trick: give most of the tax breaks to the very wealthy, let a little bit trickle down to middle-class people and call it a mild-class tax break -- middle-class tax break. It's a tax break for the rich.

While the average American might see a small tax cut, the ultra-rich will see their taxes cut by more than a trillion dollars over the next decade. Republicans, if you wanted to make the tax cut a middle-class tax break, put all the money into the middle class, not a nickel to billionaire, millionaire tax cuts. The largest corporations will see a $65 billion tax cut in just a year alone. Multi-millionaires are getting a tax cut worth more than $300,000 a year. So the vast majority of these tax breaks go to the very wealthy and big corporations. To label this package of tax breaks a middle-class tax cut is as close to lying as it comes.

And for those of you who live in Las Vegas, don't forget: Trump's disastrous tariff policies and foreign policies are greatly cutting down on tourism to the United States, and will greatly cut down on tourism to Las Vegas and Nevada, particularly this summer, the lifeblood of the Las Vegas and Nevada economies. And then when you add in the soaring cost of jet fuel that will raise airline tickets, that will do far more damage to the Nevada economy and Nevada families than any gain from Trump's tax policies. So yes, if you are a multi-millionaire or a giant corporation, Trump's policies are really helping you. With Trump's policies, the owners of Las Vegas's big hotels will do far better than the staff, the custodians, drivers, and servers.

If you have to work for a living, Donald Trump' tax breaks, coupled with his other policies, are turning out to be a giant failure.

###