Des Moines, Iowa – On Sunday, December 30th at 2 p.m., Progress Iowa and local activists will join Iowa taxpayers at Sen. Chuck Grassley’s offices in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Sioux City, and Waterloo to hold “Don’t Drop the Ball on the Middle Class” rallies in support of tax fairness. If Grassley and Tea Party Republicans like Tom Latham fail to act by the time the ball drops in Times Square on New Year’s Eve, Iowans will face massive tax increases and benefit cuts that disproportionately burden middle class families.
Sunday’s events are part of a statewide series of events and other events being organized across the country in partnership with the national coalition The Action.
“A majority of Americans believe that raising taxes on the wealthiest two-percent of Americans is the fairest way forward,” said Matt Sinovic, Executive Director of Progress Iowa. “But even after over 800 Iowans submitted petition signatures and letters in support of tax fairness to Senator Grassley, he still hasn’t committed to make sure millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share. This Sunday, we’ll be asking Grassley and Latham ‘Will you stand up for Iowa families before the new year arrives, or will you drop the ball on the middle class?’”
Progress Iowa is working in conjunction with AFSCME Iowa Council 61, Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, Iowa Alliance for Retired Americans, Iowa Citizen Action Network, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, Working Families Win, SEIU Local 199, South Central Iowa Federation of Labor, Citizens for a Healthy Iowa, and League of United Latin American Citizens to organize events this week and in the coming weeks with a focus on tax fairness and the “fiscal cliff.”
Middle class Iowans are gathering in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Sioux City, Waterloo and around the country to tell Congress: “It’s time to set our priorities straight–tax cuts for the wealthy means fewer Pell Grants, cuts to Medicare and Social Security benefits, and more kids shoved into crowded classrooms.”
