Mayor Garcetti Joins House Dems To Decry GOP Tax Plan As 'Immoral,' A 'Scam'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — As Republicans in both houses of Congress continue their attempts to overhaul the American tax system, a group of lawmakers on the other side of the aisle banded together Monday to warn constituents how the tax plan, if passed by the Senate, will have disastrous effects on their wallets and the economy, as a whole.
"We're trying to kill this bill," Rep. Joe Crowley of New York told reporters at a press conference Monday. He was joined at the podium by California Congressman Jimmy Gomez and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
"We're here to raise the alarm on behalf of Californians everywhere, that the Republican tax plan is a terrible deal for America," echoed Gomez.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently analyzed the tax plan, concluding that people earning less that $30,000 a year will, in fact, be worse off by 2019 as a result of tax cuts and lost federal benefits.
Those making $75,000 or less would see the negative impact by 2027, while families earning $100,000 to $150,000 a year would benefit significantly.
"We see so many bad things in this, so many un-American things," said Mayor Garcetti. He called the tax plan "illogical," "immoral" and a "scam."
"I urge Americans to speak up. I urge Californians to speak up. I urge Angelenos to speak up and defeat this scam," Garcetti said.
CBS2 News reached out to Republican lawmakers Ed Royce of Fullerton and Steve Knight of Palmdale, who both voted in favor of the House version of the bill, but they declined to be interviewed.
The bill would also prevent homeowners from writing off interest on homes costing more than $500,000. The current median home price is $575,000 in Los Angeles County and $710,000 in Orange County, the L.A. Times reported earlier this month.
Senate Republicans hope to have their version of the plan on the floor of the upper house as early as this week.
At least six House Republican have voiced concerns about the bill's potential to increase the deficit, including Rep. Darrell Issa of San Diego and Dana Rohrabacher of Orange County.
