AURORA | A progressive coalition established for the sole purpose of opposing any tax reform policies that they say benefit the rich and harm the poor is releasing an ad against Aurora Congressman Mike Coffman for his supportive stance on the GOP tax plan.
Not One Penny’s 30 second ad, part of a seven-figure national campaign, encourages constituents to call the congressman and urge him to “oppose the Trump Republican Tax Plan.” Tax March, which is part of the coalition, originally published the video to YouTube.
Coffman voted for the House version of the bill, calling it “pro-growth tax reform” despite the Congressional Budget Office projecting the bill adding $1.5 trillion to the national deficit over the next decade. Coffman cited another CBO projection upon the House passage: it’s expected there will be 0.4 percent growth for every $1 trillion in additional revenue with the plan, reason enough to vote for the bill. Coffman has often stated the national debt is one of the biggest issues facing the country.
“I’m amazed that the same loud voices that defended voting for $2.7 trillion in deficit spending to grow the size of government, in just the first two years of the Obama Administration, are now suddenly concerned about deficit spending when it comes to reducing the tax burdens on families and businesses in order to grow the economy,” Coffman said.
The ad says the wealthiest 0.1 percent of Americans will receive an average tax break of $320,000, citing the Tax Policy Center, and, consequently, more than 615,000 Coloradans will see an average tax hike of $1,780, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
How many Coloradans would see a tax increase varies on the source. A document from the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee claims approximately 445,000 Coloradans would see their taxes raised. But the Washington Post, upon a fact check report, gave those document claims “four Pinocchio’s.”
“The ad is replete with disproven claims and outright lies. Mike Coffman is fighting to put more money in the pockets of middle-class families across the district,” said Tyler Sandberg, a spokesman for Coffman’s campaign. “Despite his political opponents’ utter disregard for the truth, he will keep fighting to fix our broken tax system.”
Under the plan, the Tax Policy Center anticipates that nearly three-quarters of taxpayers would see a tax cut, 7 percent would see a tax increase in 2018. But those that would see a tax increase would eventually grow. In a decade it’d be expected nearly a quarter of tax payers would see an increase.
“With this vote Congressman Coffman proved that he would rather do the bidding of his wealthy and well-connected campaign donors than do what’s right for Colorado’s working families,” said Not One Penny spokesman Tim Hogan. “The bill that Congressman Coffman helped ram through the House is a taxpayer-funded giveaway to millionaires, billionaires, and wealthy corporations, all at the expense of the middle class, and his constituents will not forget his vote.”
The coalition targeted its ad buy in eight Republican-held districts “with large numbers of white voters without college degrees, who voted for Donald Trump in 2016 but have not historically been passionate about tax cuts,” according a report by the Washington Post.
In Denver, Not One Penny is spending $200,000 for broadcast and digital ads.
Other targets of the ad campaign include Rep. Rod Blum (IA-01), Rep. John Katko (NY-24), Rep. Bruce Poliquin (ME-02), Rep. Mimi Walters (CA-45) and Rep. Ed Royce (CA-39).
“The ad campaign will continue to expand and target additional Republican House members who have supported the tax bill,” Hogan said.