{"id":41339,"date":"2025-05-20T12:56:07","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T19:56:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=41339"},"modified":"2025-05-20T12:56:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T19:56:08","slug":"tax-scams-crypto-bribes-and-where-well-be-when-trumps-tanks-are-rolling-plus-your-weekly-to-dos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/05\/20\/tax-scams-crypto-bribes-and-where-well-be-when-trumps-tanks-are-rolling-plus-your-weekly-to-dos\/","title":{"rendered":"Tax scams, crypto bribes, and where we\u2019ll be when Trump\u2019s tanks are rolling &#8212; plus your weekly to-dos"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"700\" height=\"70\" src=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-33.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-41340\" srcset=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-33.png 700w, https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-33-300x30.png 300w, https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-33-150x15.png 150w, https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-33-250x25.png 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>So far, Trump has operated mostly through unilateral executive orders, not the Republican Congress. The deportation forces, the tariffs, the dismantling of the Department of Education and other agencies &#8212; all of that has been Trump and his underlings in the White House, while Congressional Republicans happily stood aside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s about to change.&nbsp;<strong>Let\u2019s talk about reconciliation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reconciliation is the main legislative maneuver used to pass bills in the Senate with just 51 votes, instead of the 60 normally needed to overcome the filibuster. It essentially lets the party in power push bills through without bipartisan support. It\u2019s how George W. Bush passed two rounds of tax cuts for the rich in 2001 and 2003, how Trump passed his original tax scam in 2017, and how Biden passed the Inflation Reduction Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it\u2019s now how Trump plans to pass his legislative agenda. That agenda is, in short, a massive tax cut to the rich that also kicks 14 million people off Medicaid and other healthcare, defunds reproductive care clinics like Planned Parenthood, and slashes food assistance for kids, veterans, and seniors. If you want a brief on the policy,&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/act.indivisible.org\/go\/827137?t=7&amp;akid=117909%2E3029%2E68k8Xd\">read this<\/a>. I\u2019m going to focus on the politics and what we can do about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Here\u2019s the current factional dynamic on Capitol Hill:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>The MAGA faction wants&nbsp;<em>more<\/em>&nbsp;cuts to Medicaid and other programs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The pro-billionaire faction wants more tax cuts for billionaires.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The vulnerable GOP frontliners don\u2019t want anyone to notice that they\u2019re supporting this.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Democrats are unified against it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What happens next? Republicans try to make the sausage.&nbsp;<\/strong>Mike Johnson doesn\u2019t have the votes yet. On Wednesday, in an effort to fully win over the MAGA and pro-billionaire factions, he\u2019s going to make the bill even worse and even more unpopular. If they then manage to bring MAGA and pro-billionaires together without a revolt from the vulnerable frontliners, the bill will pass the House and go to the Senate &#8212; as soon as this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Senate will make their own amendments to the bill, some of which will piss off the House MAGA, pro-billionaire, and\/or the frontliners. Mike Johnson will then present that Senate bill as \u201cthe best we can get\u201d and hope the GOP caucus accepts it. They would like to get this done in June &#8212; far later than they originally planned &#8212; but more likely, even an optimistic timeline stretches to July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or maybe the sausage just doesn\u2019t get made. Maybe the House fails to pass their bill. Or, after passing the bill, maybe the Senate fails to pass their version of the bill. Or, after the Senate passes their bill, maybe Mike Johnson can\u2019t unify his caucus. Or maybe the whole thing just drags out until September, when Congress faces a funding cliff and complicates the negotiations even further.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bottom line here is that the Republican agenda is not guaranteed &#8212; and this uncertainty gives us an opportunity for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Learning from the last failed Republican reconciliation bill.&nbsp;<\/strong>Reconciliation is powerful, but it\u2019s not a guaranteed win for the ruling party. Indivisible\u2019s first major legislative campaign in 2017 was around a reconciliation bill &#8212; the attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act. During this months-long campaign we had a simple strategy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li>Delay.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Toxify the bill with public opposition.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Target pressure on the weakest parts of the MAGA coalition.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Back then, Republicans thought repealing the ACA would be easy. But as we and others amped up grassroots pressure across the country, they struggled. After months of infighting, failures, and delays, the House&nbsp;<em>finally<\/em>&nbsp;managed to pass its reconciliation bill repealing the Affordable Care Act in May of 2017 (yes, 8 years ago exactly). The sausage was made! Or was it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The reconciliation bill then went to the Senate, where we targeted pressure on Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Jerry Moran, and John McCain, among others. Week after week, we hammered Republicans for their support in the press and on the streets, and Senate Republicans could not show up in public without massive public pushback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then\u2026 the sausage didn\u2019t get made. The Senate tried various different versions of a repeal but they couldn\u2019t get the votes. The reconciliation bill was delayed until it was defeated. The Republicans would go on to pass the Trump Tax Scam with reconciliation, but the Affordable Care Act survived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What we need now.<\/strong>&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/act.indivisible.org\/go\/827138?t=8&amp;akid=117909%2E3029%2E68k8Xd\">There isn&#8217;t a congressional district in this country where cutting Medicaid has more than 15% support.<\/a>&nbsp;This is a bill that Members of Congress should be politically scared to support. This is a bill that should drag out because lawmakers are getting cold feet. This is not a bill that should pass quickly, quietly, or without mass opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We need a unified Democratic opposition. We need Democrats zeroing in on the GOP plan, and not muddying the message by getting behind an unrelated, corruption-friendly crypto bill this week instead &#8212;&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/act.indivisible.org\/go\/827139?t=9&amp;akid=117909%2E3029%2E68k8Xd\">I\u2019m looking at you Mark Warner, Kirsten Gillibrand, Angela Alsobrooks, and Ruben Gallego.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We need Democrats to link arms in a focused fight against this, and we need Republicans to understand there will be political hell to pay if they go through with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a live fight. Republicans would like it to be easy. We can guarantee it won\u2019t be. But it\u2019s up to us to do it &#8212; so please read on to this week\u2019s actions!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In solidarity,<br>Ezra Levin<br>Co-Executive Director<br>Indivisible<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Your weekly to-dos<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/act.indivisible.org\/go\/827059?t=10&amp;akid=117909%2E3029%2E68k8Xd\">Call your Republican representative on Tuesday, May 20, to help melt GOP phone lines and stop the cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;This Tuesday, we\u2019re joining Public Citizen and Americans for Tax Fairness to lead a national call-in that overwhelms GOP phones in opposition to their reconciliation bill!&nbsp;<em>Need a reminder?&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/act.indivisible.org\/signup\/get-text-updates-indivisible\/?utm_source=email&amp;utm_medium=_20250519&amp;t=11&amp;akid=117909%2E3029%2E68k8Xd\">Add your phone number here to get a text from Indivisible when it\u2019s time to call.<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/act.indivisible.org\/go\/827060?t=12&amp;akid=117909%2E3029%2E68k8Xd\">Call your senators &#8212; Republicans AND Democrats &#8212; to demand that they oppose a cryptocurrency bill enabling Trump\u2019s corruption.<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;Indivisibles recently helped derail a toothless bill that would\u2019ve let Trump keep profiting from the presidency via his crypto investments. Now, that bill is on the move again, and we need to let our senators hear us so we can defeat it for good.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/act.indivisible.org\/go\/827061?t=13&amp;akid=117909%2E3029%2E68k8Xd\">Join our \u201cFight Back with Friends\u201d training on May 27 for new tools to help get your friends and family off the sidelines!<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;We all know someone who wants to join our fight but isn\u2019t sure where to start; Fight Back with Friends is a new program designed to break down that barrier. Our monthly call next Tuesday, May 27, will give you everything you need to get started!<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/act.indivisible.org\/go\/826053?t=14&amp;akid=117909%2E3029%2E68k8Xd\"><strong>Sign up for a No Kings protest to defy Trump\u2019s tyranny and ruin his self-serving birthday parade on June 14.<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;As Trump hosts his un-American military parade in DC, we\u2019re rising up everywhere else to show him and our fellow Americans what real power looks like. Don\u2019t see a protest near you yet? More events are added every day, so please&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/act.indivisible.org\/go\/826053?t=15&amp;akid=117909%2E3029%2E68k8Xd\">check our map<\/a>&nbsp;again soon or&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/act.indivisible.org\/go\/826030?t=16&amp;akid=117909%2E3029%2E68k8Xd\">use our toolkit to host your own event!<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/act.indivisible.org\/go\/827173?t=17&amp;akid=117909%2E3029%2E68k8Xd\"><strong>Join a \u201cWhat\u2019s the Plan\u201d call (Thursdays, 3pm ET \/ 12pm PT) to ask Leah and Ezra your questions about reconciliation, No Kings, and more!<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;Each Thursday, our co-founders jump online to break down the news, draw inspiration from Indivisibles\u2019 work, and answer your questions directly. Come be part of a free-flowing, interactive chat about what\u2019s next in our fight for democracy.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>P.S. It\u2019s a key week in our fight to stop the Republican Tax Scam, and we\u2019ve rolled out billboards, phonebanks, door knocking, digital programs, and more! Grassroots giving has already helped expand our efforts in big ways, but if you can spare it,&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/act.indivisible.org\/go\/827062?t=18&amp;akid=117909%2E3029%2E68k8Xd\"><strong>you can chip in today to fund billboards and nationwide organizing to defeat the Medicaid-killing MAGA agenda.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">This week&#8217;s update on the Republican Tax Scam<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Ezra covered the state of play in-depth in his introduction above, but we\u2019ll summarize it again very quickly:&nbsp;<strong>Speaker Johnson wants to pass the reconciliation bill* through the House and into the Senate** ASAP, so he\u2019s granting concessions to his party\u2019s MAGA faction hand-over-fist in an effort to speed things along.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All that rush and all those concessions to the far-right are making the bill even nastier, more harmful, and more politically toxic. We need to pounce on that by applying more pressure than ever to vulnerable House Republicans who are terrified to vote on this bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><\/td><td><strong>We\u2019re overrunning capitol phone lines in opposition.<\/strong>&nbsp;Thousands of Indivisibles are calling their GOP representatives this week about opposing the Republican Tax Scam &#8212; especially during the national call-in day on May 20.&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/act.indivisible.org\/go\/827059?t=24&amp;akid=117909%2E3029%2E68k8Xd\">Click here to call your GOP representative on Tuesday, May 20 about stopping SNAP and Medicaid cuts.<\/a><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><\/td><td><strong>We\u2019re putting up billboards in key GOP districts.<\/strong>&nbsp;We\u2019re placing outdoor ads that highlight SNAP and Medicaid cuts in nine of the most narrowly divided districts in the country, and thanks to overwhelming grassroots support, we\u2019ve already been able to DOUBLE the number of billboards secured!&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/act.indivisible.org\/go\/827062?t=25&amp;akid=117909%2E3029%2E68k8Xd\">You can chip in here to fund even more billboards and other outreach to stop the cuts.<\/a><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><\/td><td><strong>We\u2019re knocking on doors to sound the alarm.<\/strong>&nbsp;Our Neighbor2Neighbor program allows folks in four states and eleven key districts to knock on doors and educate like-minded neighbors about the GOP Tax Scam on their own time.&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/act.indivisible.org\/go\/827170?t=26&amp;akid=117909%2E3029%2E68k8Xd\">Click here to see if Neighbor2Neighbor canvassing is available in your area.<\/a><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><\/td><td><strong>We\u2019re calling, texting, and empowering our neighbors.<\/strong>&nbsp;Through our new Fight Back With Friends program, we\u2019re helping folks across the country connect their friends, families, and broader communities with tools to join the fight.&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/act.indivisible.org\/go\/827061?t=27&amp;akid=117909%2E3029%2E68k8Xd\">Sign up for our next Fight Back With Friends training on May 27 here.<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The House could vote on the Republican Tax Scam this week! Use the links above to take action right away, or&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/act.indivisible.org\/go\/827063?t=28&amp;akid=117909%2E3029%2E68k8Xd\">click here to check out our \u201cStop The Cuts\u201d toolkit for more information on all the ways you can join this fight!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>*<\/strong>You might also see this called the megabill, Republican tax scam, GOP tax bill, or even \u201cTrump\u2019s big, beautiful bill.\u201d They\u2019re all different names for the same plan to gut Medicaid, food assistance, and other programs in order to fund tax breaks for billionaires.<strong>**<\/strong>Passing this bill in the House does NOT mean Republicans have won. They\u2019ll still need to pass it in the Senate, and if the upper chamber changes even one word, the House needs to debate and vote all over again. You may remember it was the Senate that&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/act.indivisible.org\/go\/713265?t=29&amp;akid=117909%2E3029%2E68k8Xd\">sunk Trump\u2019s first reconciliation bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act<\/a>&nbsp;in 2017.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Where you can protest Trump\u2019s tyranny June 14<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>With over 700 events on the map and more launching daily, we have the opportunity to make June 14 &#8212; the day of Trump\u2019s military birthday parade &#8212; one of the biggest days of mass protest of our lifetimes! But to maximize the power of our resistance, we need everyone who\u2019s able to show up to do so and bring friends.<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/act.indivisible.org\/go\/826053?t=30&amp;akid=117909%2E3029%2E68k8Xd\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/act.indivisible.org\/go\/826053?t=31&amp;akid=117909%2E3029%2E68k8Xd\"><strong>Click here to see all the No Kings Day protests on our map, and sign up to join a gathering near you on June 14.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So far, Trump has operated mostly through unilateral executive orders, not the Republican Congress. The deportation forces, the tariffs, the dismantling of the Department of Education and other agencies &#8212; all of that has been Trump and his underlings in the White House, while Congressional Republicans happily stood aside. That\u2019s&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/05\/20\/tax-scams-crypto-bribes-and-where-well-be-when-trumps-tanks-are-rolling-plus-your-weekly-to-dos\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41339"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41339"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41341,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41339\/revisions\/41341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}