On eve of tax votes, Americans pack the Capitol rotunda to protest GOP's scam
Republicans are planning to ram through the final version of their tax scam this week, voting in the House on Tuesday and the Senate on Wednesday. But activists are refusing to back down. Enraged by the attempt to raise taxes on the middle class and destroy health insurance markets to pay for tax breaks for […]
But activists are refusing to back down.
Enraged by the attempt to raise taxes on the middle class and destroy health insurance markets to pay for tax breaks for billionaires, and disgusted with the backroom deals and bribery GOP used to scrape together the votes, protestors descended on the Capitol on Monday, marching through the halls:
Hundreds of American Patriots protesting the #GOPTaxScam on Capitol Hill today. ❤️👊 #RESISThttps://t.co/bXKeVFjFeN
— Ricky Davila (@TheRickyDavila) December 18, 2017
Not only are Republicans refusing to hear any arguments against their tax scheme, they are now calling the Capitol Police on protestors and having them dragged out and arrested:
NOW: Capitol Police arrests people peacefully singing and telling their stories on how #GOPTaxScam will hurt them. https://t.co/s9IFlNQzoB
— Center for Popular Democracy💥 (@popdemoc) December 19, 2017
Among those arrested was Ady Barkan, a man with ALS who begged Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake to save his health care and his life by voting against the tax bill.
I'm getting arrested in DC today because I'll give every ounce I have left to stop the #GOPTaxScam pic.twitter.com/ZlFuCCZsxw
— Ady Barkan (@AdyBarkan) December 19, 2017
This is not an isolated incident. Republicans are increasingly letting activists get dragged out by police rather than engage with them.
Nevada Sen. Dean Heller stood by as a woman with Stage 4 cancer was ejected from his public forum. And during the GOP’s previous attempt to repeal Obamacare, 181 protestors, including people in wheelchairs, were arrested at a Senate Finance Committee hearing.
The American people are demonstrating because they feel unheard by their government.
Republicans’ response of force and arrests only confirms that, and proves the need for continued resistance.
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