James Clyburn Absolutely Torches Trump And GOP Tax Plan

Forbes Breaking News

At a town hall event in Summerton, South Carolina, on Thursday, Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) discussed what citizens can do to push back on the Trump Administration.

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Congressman. Thank you, Mr. Tomlin. Do I have Moses Levy, Jr. from Manning here?

00:12Moses Levy, Jr. There he is. Can somebody get a mic over there for me?

00:16Can you see him?

00:20Need a microphone down here, please. All the way to the front.

00:30Congressman Cliven, good evening and welcome home to Clarendon County.

00:41You just answered my question, believe it or not.

00:45My question was what we as citizens of these United States need to do to offset what is going on in Washington, D.C.

00:55You just answered the question for me when you said break the silence.

01:00And speak out. Thank you very much.

01:07Akadra, look at me. I want these two things to go up because I really want to make a point for those two things.

01:14We have got to stop just accepting it. I don't know why people think you've got to, there's something wrong with challenging people.

01:30Make people defend the statements they made.

01:39And I want you to see this truck here.

01:42This is a billboard that's traveling throughout the 6th Congressional District.

01:47Someone took this picture in Columbia a couple of days ago and sent it to me.

01:53Now what this truck says is asking you to tell me to vote for this new tax bill that they're getting ready to introduce

02:10to continue the 2017 tax law.

02:17Now I want to show you all what was in the 2017 tax law because nobody talks about this.

02:22Now hand me the paper so I can see you.

02:30I want to show you what was in that tax law that nobody talks about.

02:34The vast majority of the tax cuts that were enacted in 2017 were for the wealthiest Americans and big corporations.

02:49Now how many of you in here tonight are billionaires?

02:55How many multi-millionaires we got in here?

03:00Because the upper 1% in this country got over 70% of that tax break.

03:13And now what they're trying to do with this law that they're getting ready to introduce

03:18is to make those tax breaks permanent.

03:24Permanent.

03:24So if you're now sitting on $10 billion, it means even if you get the $50 billion, your tax break will be permanent.

03:40And let me show you what else they did.

03:43If y'all got this sheet, look at it.

03:45They never talk about the fact that there were some tax increases in that bill.

03:50They cut the tax on wealthy people, but they increased the taxes on places of worship,

04:01on non-profits, 501c3 non-profits that many of you have in your churches,

04:11the non-profits to feed the poor,

04:14the non-profits that you set up to provide housing, affordable housing.

04:22They increased the taxes on them.

04:24And let me tell you what they all did.

04:26They went to the church parking lot.

04:28And anybody who had a reserved parking space,

04:33the Minister of Music,

04:36that parking space got taxed.

04:38Oh yeah, that parking space, Reverend Johnson, you didn't know that?

04:47I see you.

04:49Yes.

04:52And the last thing you see there,

04:55two years after this, I authored a bill to repeal that tax.

04:59And that's what I called it.

05:01Start the tax hike on charities and places of worship at.

05:08And people told me,

05:10it took me two years,

05:11but I got it eliminated.

05:14Now, that to me should have been talked about.

05:29How many of you knew those two,

05:31those tax increases were in that bill?

05:35Nobody talks about that.

05:37Now I'm going to tell you something else.

05:40I shouldn't have to say it to put this up.

05:42You all may recall that right after that tax hike went into,

05:46that tax cut went into,

05:48I call it a tax hike,

05:50but after that bill went into effect,

05:52all affordable housing in the country

05:55came to a screeching halt.

05:58Because in the tax bill,

06:00they also took away the tax credits

06:03that developers could get

06:06for building affordable housing.

06:10We encouraged the building of affordable housing

06:15by saying to developers,

06:17if you were to build housing

06:21for low-income people

06:23so that they can afford the housing,

06:26you will get a tax break for doing it.

06:29They took away that tax break in that bill.

06:32And we just started back

06:35to doing affordable housing

06:36about a year ago.

06:39Now, I don't know where all

06:41there may have been programs stopped,

06:42but I saw the ones

06:43that were stopping in Richland County

06:45because one of those communities

06:47right there on Mason Road,

06:49near where I live in Columbia,

06:50came to a screeching halt.

06:54But we went back,

06:57fixed that,

06:59and nobody talked about it.

07:00People keep saying,

07:01well, you haven't done anything.

07:04Well, that's one of the things I did.

07:07So the Minister of Music

07:08would have to put it.

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