Give Corporations a Tax Break and Cut Education to Balance the Budget? No thank you.

Does that sound like a good idea? Representative Wolf thinks it is. Despite his previous concerns on the effects of the sequester, Frank Wolf cemented his support for deep cuts last week when he voted for Paul Ryan’s budget plan. The budget does more than just cut programs and services Virginians rely on – it also cuts taxes for corporations and the wealthiest Americans by 5.7 trillion dollars.

If you find Rep. Wolf’s vote a bit disconcerting, you are not alone. Yesterday I was joined by members of a local union and community groups from Winchester in a march on Rep. Wolf’s office in protest. By voting for Paul Ryan’s budget, Rep. Wolf is choosing to cut investments in education and training by 47 percent, while refusing to ask corporations to pay a single penny more to help balance the budget. With many schools in the district already stretching a limited budget, it is hard to imagine what another cut will do to the quality of our education, not to mention the number of jobs that will lost. We can already expect the sequester to put hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk in Virginia, a reoccurring topic among members of yesterday’s march.  One electrical worker that joined had been recently laid off by a subcontractor to the General Services Administration, and another had friends that were waiting to receive their furlough notices and the twenty percent cut in pay that would come with.

Despite Rep. Wolf’s support for deeper cuts, there is simple solution to ease the burden of the budget – making corporations pay their fair share of taxes by closing corporate tax loopholes. Recent research shows that the federal government loses around $90 billion annually - and state governments about $40 billion - to foreign tax havens that allow corporations to hide their profits abroad without taxation. That is just one of the tax loopholes that companies like Wells Fargo and GE are using to pay no taxes.

With the budget debates far from over, Rep. Wolf still has time to support a balanced budget that raises revenues by closing corporate tax loopholes. For his mind to be changed, he needs to face the effects of the sequester by hearing from constituents like you. If you have recently lost your job, are waiting to be furloughed, or will be affected by cuts to education, infrastructure or research and development, give Representative Wolf’s office a call and let them know the budget should not be balanced on the backs of working and middle-class families. Let him know that you support a common sense solution: closing corporate tax loopholes. It is time for Rep. Wolf to stand up for the middle class and make corporations pay their fair share.

Representative Wolf’s Office number: (202) 225-5136