| Dear Katy, Are pharmaceutical companies colluding to keep prices high or abusing their patents? How are corporations managing to dodge taxes, especially thanks to the Trump Tax Scam? Is Donald Trump personally profiting from tax law changes? Are his policies helping his children, his cabinet officials, and his businesses rake in countless dollars? Is Trump using the Social Security Administration to go after undocumented people and forcing Secret Service agents to work unpaid to protect him and his family as his private resort? The House Committee on Ways and Means is constitutionally obligated to investigate these sorts of questions. But under Rep. Richard Neal, the committee has been marked by hesitation and fear of angering powerful interests.1,2 That needs to end now. Tell Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi: The Ways & Means Committee Must Investigate Trump. Click here to sign the petition. Rep. Neal, the chair of the committee, should already have Trump's tax returns in his hands. But instead, he delayed and offered explanations. Even now, it appears he does not intend to use his legal authority to pursue the tax returns for Trump's businesses, which go to the heart of any potential corruption. The sad truth is that pursuing Trump's tax returns is just the start. The House Committee on Ways and Means, and especially its powerful oversight subcommittee – chaired by progressive champion Rep. John Lewis – has broad authority to investigate both the executive branch and broader economic questions. The committee should investigate: - Potential corruption, including whether Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner personally benefit from "Opportunity Zone" tax breaks; reported special treatment for a hedge fund with ties to Trump; Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin's close ties to Sears even as he weight the fate of the bankrupt company's pension plan; and whether Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and Trump ally Carl Icahn are profiting from Trump's trade policy.3
- Abuse of government resources, including Trump directing the Social Security Administration to go after undocumented workers; federal workers and Secret Service agents being forced to work without pay; attacks on federal unions; and the politicization of the Internal Revenue Service.4
- Corporate malfeasance, including corporate tax avoidance, colluding to raise pharmaceutical prices, abuse of patent monopolies, and industry-friendly tax rules flowing out of the IRS.5
As Speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi has the ultimate responsibility to make sure the Ways and Means Committee has the resources, direction and leadership to do its job. But it's up to us to demand that this powerful committee investigate corporate wrongdoing and provide oversight of the dangerous Trump administration. Tell Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi: The Ways & Means Committee Must Investigate Trump. Click below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/ways-and-means-oversight?t=9&akid=31946%2E12967895%2EuPlash Thank you for speaking out, Josh Nelson, Co-Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: - Eleanor Eagan and Jeff Hauser, "Oversight of Congressional Oversight: Assessing the House Ways and Means Committee," CEPR Blog, Jan. 31, 2019.
- Jeff Hauser and Eleanor Eagan, "The Oversight Options Available to the House Ways & Means Committee," CEPR Blog, Jan. 16, 2019.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
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