From Nevada to New York: Americans Continue to Call Out a Rigged Tax System & Republican Agenda That Rewards Billionaires and Leaves Working People Behind
Tax Day may have passed, but Americans aren’t done speaking out on taxes, fairness, and how their hard-earned money is being mis-spent by Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress.
They know Trump and Republicans in Congress have made life harder and more expensive for them while giving massive handouts to billionaires. That’s why Americans across party lines support raising taxes on the rich and corporations.
So as the Republican-led Congress gears up for yet another irresponsible reconciliation, take a look at what the people are saying on the misplaced priorities to date – in their own words:
VOICES FROM THE STATES
“As for whether Americans pay too much in taxes: Mere mortals do. Billionaires not so much.”
“I’m fed up with a system where people like me, who work, who pay taxes, who do everything we’re told to do, are left struggling.”
“I don’t think Trump’s tax changes have helped me or this country, not a single bit. My refund is going to be less this year. I can buy a Happy Meal from McDonald’s with my refund.”
“The One Big Beautiful Bill Act was rigged to show it was helping the middle class in some ways temporarily. But after that, its effects will be much worse.”
“I’m not making as much tips because of the policies they created. I’m worse off than if we didn’t have no tax on tips.”
– Joe Spica, a hospitality worker in Nevada
“I think [OBBBA] was a bad bill. I think it was a lie. I think it was wrong to tell people they wouldn’t pay tax on their tips and then make them tax their tips anyway”
– Katie Tice, a hospitality worker in Nevada
“Wages are down, employment is down, tourism is down, so there’s no one here to tip us, and the people that live here can’t afford to tip because they can’t afford to get out of the house.”
“I know so many people now that are living paycheck to paycheck who are making twice, three times the amount of money that our parents made.”
“I do not want my tax money to continue to be used for pointless wars. I want my tax money to go to schools, public infrastructure, social programming, feeding and housing people in poverty, and making our communities more accessible and safe.”
“You cannot lower costs without raising revenue. Arizona isn’t broke, it’s being robbed.”
– Stephanie Maldonado, Arizona
“Every time Republicans are in, they make us poor.”
“If everyone paid their fair share…we could invest in a foundation that small businesses depend on: healthy workers, strong communities, and customers who can afford to spend.”
– Lauren Anderson, a small business owner in Connecticut
“If we do tax the wealthy, then we’ll be able to guarantee great schools for every child, not just the children and the families who can afford to live in these wealthier towns.”
– Alicia Hernandez Strong, a fourth grade teacher in Connecticut
“My wife and I will happily pay a little more for things that make living in this state better for everyone.”
LEADERS IN THE STATES
“The ‘Trump slump’ is real. And it’s real for Las Vegas workers”
– Ted Pappageorge, Nevada Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer
“Pennsylvania’s 23 billionaires have grown their collective wealth by $32.6 billion – 24.3% – since Trump was reelected. That is not just wealth growth. That is a system that is extracting more from people who work for a living while allowing extraordinary wealth at the top to grow largely untouched.”
– Felicity Williams, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Policy Center, Pennsylvania
“We have an affordability problem because we haven’t aligned our revenue system with what families actually need to thrive…How about we ask the right people to pay their fair share in the first place?”
– Nadiyah Groves, Policy & Budget Director for Kids Forward, Wisconsin
“While most Americans pay their fair share of taxes, the ultra-wealthy enjoy massive tax breaks. Meanwhile, many New Jerseyans struggle with health care premiums 400 or 500 percent greater than last year’s rate, and many others face the danger of having no health care at all.”
– Laura Waddell, the NJCA health care program director, New Jersey
“The idea that billionaires should pay higher tax rates than working people is not radical. What is radical is allowing a system where extreme wealth exists alongside widespread hardship – and where those billionaires can in effect opt out of contributing to the society that made their success possible.”
– Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Joseph Stiglitz and Gabriel Zucman, New York
“Weak [tax] enforcement is not a victimless problem — it is a direct subsidy from the honest to the dishonest….At the very moment when enforcement should be strengthened, it is being undermined.”
– Thomas J. Healey, former assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury under Ronald Reagan, New Jersey
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