Liberals launch congressional-midterm ad campaign against GOP’s tax cut

The fight over the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is back after a short holiday timeout.

The American Action Network, a 501 organization aligned with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), has started a $10 million promotional campaign to sell the tax cuts to voters in congressional swing districts. Now the progressive Not One Penny coalition is starting a counterattack, starting with a six-figure buy in Iowa’s 1st District, represented since 2015 by Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa).

“Big corporations and multimillionaires like Rod Blum got a huge tax break,” says a narrator in the new spot. “But for people who have to work for a living, Rod Blum’s vote raises taxes on the majority of Americans, rewards outsourcing jobs overseas, and adds $1.5 trillion to the national debt.”

Not One Penny, a coalition of progressive organizations, released an ad criticizing Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa) for voting for President Trump's tax plan. (Video: Not One Penny)

The ad, soon to be echoed in other swing districts, follows on the work Not One Penny did to oppose the tax cuts in the first place. Unlike the coalition that stopped the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the anti-tax-cut campaigners fell short — but the bill that came out of Congress was much less popular than Republicans expected.

Not One Penny has been trying to keep support for the tax cuts low by emphasizing their benefits for the wealthiest. Leading up to a Washington rally on April 15, the coalition has been organizing “Repeal the Trump Tax” events — 100 of them across the country.