On Tax Day

April 15, 2008

We are public service workers who provide the services that make America happen. We are taxpayers, too. So we work to improve the public’s understanding that there is a cost to the public services that all of us depend on and that everyone should pay their fair share. We are constantly on the alert for wasteful contracts, special-interest tax breaks and corporate subsidies that weaken government’s ability to provide quality public education, access to health care, decent transportation systems, and safe and healthy families and communities. Sadly, there is vast inequality in our tax system that favors corporations over working people and the rich over the middle class. According to the Economic Policy Institute:

“Over the last 60 years, the U.S. tax code has dramatically shifted away from corporate taxes and toward taxes on individuals… The shrinking share of corporate taxes combined with an increase in payroll taxes has helped widen income inequality.”

That’s why at AFSCME we fight against corporate welfare and unfair and irresponsible tax cuts that benefit the wealthy few at the expense of working families.