Permanently extending the parts of the 2017 Trump-GOP tax law benefiting the rich, set to expire at the end of 2025, would represent a moral failure of this country’s priorities. Extension of the tax cuts for the wealthy would waste trillions of dollars in public revenue that could otherwise be used to create a “beloved community” of accessible healthcare, nurturing childcare, affordable housing, inspiring education, and more. Extension would also concentrate even more money and power in the hands of a select few, undermining the sense of human equality and spiritual unity that should animate a democratic society. As people of faith, our diverse faith groups can come together to advocate for policy that creates equity and dignity for all of God’s people. 

Extending the Trump Tax Law Will Mostly Benefit the Wealthy At the Expense of the Poor
Next year, the highest-income 1%—households with over $830,000 of annual income—will get an average tax cut of over $60,000. The lowest-income fifth of society—families making less than $27,300 a year—will get about 20 cents a day. But that disparity would not be the greatest injury to impoverished Americans from extending the cuts. The Trump law in its original form is expected to add almost $2 trillion to the national debt, and permanently extending the expiring provisions will add nearly $5 trillion more. Some members of Congress have made clear they will use that explosion of federal debt as an excuse to cut funding for public services that—unlike a minuscule tax cut—are of vital importance to poor Americans: services like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, housing, education and more. 

Further Enriching the Already Wealthy With More Tax Cuts Frays the Bonds of Community
Our country’s growing income and wealth gaps inhibit a sense of national community and purpose. The super-wealthy live in such a different world from the rest of us, it creates a gulf not just of wealth but of experience and often, empathy. Perpetuating this chasm of inequality and cutting social programs are affronts to human dignity. This disconnection makes the creation and maintenance of a national spiritual family nearly impossible. Extending tax cuts that add even more to the obscene fortunes of the richest among us will only make that goal that much harder to obtain.

To Achieve Their Public Investment Goals, Faith Leaders Need to Attend to the Revenue Side
Faith leaders have long been advocates for public spending that improves the lives of people living in poverty. They also believe that to be good stewards of our nation, we need to pay for what we want as a society now. Therefore, in the absence of an emergency, we should not rely on excessive borrowing to fund our government, borrowing that creates punishing debt for future generations and represents a lack of current commitment to our values.  So in an age of rising deficits, it’s necessary to not only identify social needs that would benefit from public investment, but to identify how those investments will be funded and how public debt will be reduced. Preventing extension of the Trump tax cuts for the rich is only half the coming battle: progressive tax reformers will be using the expirations in the law as an opportunity to push for higher rates and fewer loopholes for the rich and the big corporations they own. The effort to raise this new revenue will be bolstered by the involvement of representatives from the faith community. This advocacy is foundational to the moral responsibility faith leaders have to their parishioners. Furthermore, this message centers the common bond members of differing denominations have with one another.

The teachings of all faith communities, and the beliefs of people of goodwill everywhere, affirm the need to care for all people and advance policies to combat the ongoing epidemic of poverty.