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GIANT TAX CHICKEN FINISHES DISTRICT-WIDE TOUR OF KATKO’S OFFICES WITH STOP IN WAYNE COUNTY 

Tax Chicken Stopped In Oswego, Syracuse, Auburn And Lyons To Remind Central New Yorkers That Katko Is Too Chicken To Admit Who He Really Works For

SYRACUSE — Speak Out Central New York’s Trump Tax Chicken finished its district-wide tour of Congressman John Katko’s offices with a stop in Lyons today, emphasizing how Katko betrayed the interests of his constituents – and instead gave the richest fraction of the country a $1.5 trillion tax break – when he voted to pass the TrumpTax in December.

The Tax Chicken – made famous by its nationwide tour with the Tax March last year – was joined yet again by Cardboard Katko himself, wearing the logos of the Wall Street firms and rich corporations that he rewarded with billions in tax breaks under the TrumpTax. Katko voted for the bill despite knowing that it would send more than 80 percent of its benefits to the richest 1 percent of the country, insisting it would lead to worker raises. But since the bill passed in December, corporations have spent 88 times as much on stock buybacks for rich executives and shareholders than they’ve spent on worker raises or bonuses.

Katko has taken thousands in campaign donations from major corporations that saved billions thanks to the tax scam, including Comcast ($1,000), Suntrust ($4,500), JPMorgan ($2,000), Citigroup ($3,000), Home Depot ($1,500), General Motors ($4,000) and Microsoft ($1,000).  Microsoft has laid off hundreds of workers since the Republican tax scam passed, despite saving $742 million in just the first quarter of the year. The tax scam also saved General Motors $105 million in the first quarter, but the company still cut more than 1,500 jobs.

Katko’s vote for the TrumpTax also helped repeal the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act, which is driving up premiums by double-digits across New York, with some insurers requesting rate hikes of nearly 40 percent for 2019. For the bottom 60 percent of earners in New York State, the repeal of the individual mandate will drive up premiums enough to completely offset any meager savings under the TrumpTax, and the tax scam will ultimately wind up increasing their annual costs by an average of $182.

Despite Katko’s demonstrably false claims to the contrary, since the Republican tax scam took effect, Central New York unemployment has consistently risen, and wages nationwide remain stagnant – and are even declining in some places. While corporations rake in billions in tax savings – and use them to initiate massive stock buybacks to reward already-rich executives – workers are facing an increasingly difficult economy with even less purchasing power. Since December, just 4.3 percent of American workers have gotten a bonus or wage hike.

Katko recently stood alongside Trump Administration members like Vice President Mike Pence – who hosted a $30,000 per plate fundraiser for Katko in D.C. last month – and Ivanka Trump, touting the tax scam as a victory for working families even as unemployment in his own district continues to rise and costs for middle-class families increase thanks to the repeal of the individual mandate.