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Washington (December 19, 2017) – As Senate Republicans prepare to jam through their tax bill during the late hours of the night, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) took to the U.S. Senate floor to speak out in opposition to the plan. Calling it a “con job” and a “Trojan Horse full of giveaways to the wealthy”, Senator Markey vowed to vote no on the tax bill and to fight future Republican efforts to attack Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

Excerpts from Senator Markey’s floor remarks on the Senate floor tonight:

“The American people are waking up to the fact that they have been sold a bill of goods.  They are seeing that this plan is simply a Trojan horse full of giveaways to the wealthy, corporations, and Republican political donors.”

“By 2027, this bill will raise taxes on over 53 percent of American households.  And at the same time, a full 83 percent of the tax cuts will flow to the top 1 percent of Americans. So, the more the American people see what is in this bill, the more they realize they will have to foot the bill.”

“According to the polls, the only thing more unpopular than this tax plan is President Trump.”

“Because when these tax giveaways pass, the deficit will explode by over two trillion dollars. Republicans want nothing more than an excuse to want to slash Medicare and make it harder for Grandma to buy her medicine. They want the ability to gut Medicaid because in their opinion healthcare is only a right for the wealthy.  And they want cover to steal Social Security benefits from every American who has paid into that system.”

“And they are doing this because the modern Republican Party has a sacred obligation to their donors, to the Koch Brothers, to the massive corporations that help fund their campaigns. They promised them tax breaks, and it will be average working families who end up footing the bill.”

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