Around the country April 11, thousands of union members joined community, civil rights, women’s, environmental and other activists in a National Day of Action to highlight the trade-offs that President George W. Bush is willing to make in order to pay for his millionaire tax cut, which will cost $2.4 trillion.

Instead of using the nation’s budget surplus to strengthen Medicare and add a prescription drug benefit for seniors, shore up Social Security, provide quality health care and education and support a fair, reasonable tax cut targeted to working families, the tax scheme would provide “millions of dollars for the wealthy corporate backers of George Bush, a couple hundred dollars for middle America. Is that what this country stands for?” Michigan State AFL-CIO President Mark T. Gaffney asked a noon rally of 200 people in Lansing.

News conferences and other events took place in more than 40 cities in 27 states. The National Day of Action was sponsored by Fair Taxes for All, a coalition formed by AFSCME and other groups, including the AFL-CIO.

“Congress needs to listen more carefully to the voices of the large majority of working Americans who want us to fight for other, very important priorities,” said AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee in a statement.

In Providence, R.I., Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D) joined AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson and addressed a crowd of local activists.

“What we are talking about in this country now is a fundamental decision about what this nation’s priorities are,” Kennedy said.

Two days before, Bush submitted a budget that pays for the giveaway to the rich by cutting significantly into programs for working families.

Under Bush's plan, almost half of the tax cut would go to the richest 1 percent. The poorest 20 percent of workers would average just $46 a year in tax relief.

“This tax cut does not work for working families,” Chavez-Thompson said.

In Detroit, more than 400 people gathered outside Herman Keifer Hospital, which provides health care for their children, some of whom attend a nearby elementary school, and many of the uninsured in the city.

Donald Boggs, president of the Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO, told the crowd, “This tax cut for millionaires takes money that could do so much to provide health care and improve education.”

Learn More

•	Visit Fair Taxes for All to sign a petition against the millionaire tax cut.
•	Send a message to your lawmakers to oppose Bush's millionaire tax cut.
•	Find out how the Bush tax scheme shortchanges your state.
•	Tax scam--pay now and and pay even more later.