New Mexicans are about to be bombarded with TV ads telling us that renewing tax cuts for the rich is a great idea 🙄
Let’s take a closer look at who’s behind these ads and what they really mean…
The group paying for these ads is called Americans for Prosperity (AFP), which has long been a mouthpiece for the billionaire Koch brothers. The Kochs have spent decades using their wealth to influence policy and shape public opinion – often in ways that hurt middle-class families and working people.
This newest campaign, which is labeled as a “grassroots push to extend [the 2017] Trump Tax Cuts,” will spend millions on ads aimed at influencing public perception of tax cuts that largely enriched the most wealthy Americans.
83% of the tax breaks contained in Trump’s Tax Cuts went to the wealthiest 1% of Americans, according to analysis from the Tax Policy Center, and if they’re renewed would deliver millionaire households an additional $54,190 per year (almost as much as the average NM household makes).
And extending the tax cuts would cost around $400 billion, which Trump and Republicans have said they will cover by cutting Medicaid, SNAP, and other key programs New Mexicans depend on.
Despite their innocuous-sounding name and rhetoric about “protecting prosperity,” AFP has a clear track record: their agenda benefits the wealthy and powerful.
Over the years, AFP has taken tobacco company money while trying to stop smoke-free workplace laws, spent millions in attack ads on the Affordable Care Act, and advocated to eliminate collective bargaining for teachers, firefighters, and police officers.
AFP has long been a vocal proponent of tax cuts for wealthy corporations and billionaires, while simultaneously advocating for policies that harm working-class people. Their latest campaign to extend the Trump Tax Cuts is just another example of this trend.
By pushing for these cuts, AFP is essentially asking Congress to give a massive handout to the rich, while leaving ordinary Americans to foot the bill.
AFPs ads will claim to be grassroots and focused on everyday New Mexicans. Don’t be fooled, their pretty ads are nothing but propaganda to try to trick us into supporting tax cuts that will only benefit those already in the 1%.