Congressman Fred Upton has once again betrayed the people of southwest Michigan by enthusiastically endorsing the Trump-Ryan-McConnell “tax reform” framework unveiled on Sept. 27.

The Republican framework is a boon to the wealthy. It would reduce the top individual income tax rate from 39.6 percent to 35 percent; eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax, which aims to insure that the wealthiest individuals pay at least some federal income tax; and eliminate the Estate Tax, which is paid only by the wealthiest individuals.

The Republican framework would greatly increase the federal deficit and debt. An analysis by the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Budget reports that if the Republican plan were adopted the federal deficit would increase by more than $2 trillion dollars.

Trump and his Congressional Republican accomplices falsely suggest that their scheme would offset the gigantic increase in the deficit by increasing economic growth.

The Republicans’ tax framework is a giveaway to the wealthy. It will not benefit the middle class and it will balloon the federal deficit. It is one more example of the debunked theory of “trickle-down economics” that George H.W. Bush correctly characterized as “voodoo economics.”

Trump and his allies have repeatedly lied about who would benefit from their devious “tax framework.” Trump has made the demonstrably false claim that the wealthy would not benefit from his plan.

His Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, has made the false claim that this scheme would “decrease the federal deficit”. Fred Upton has made the false claim that the tax framework would “deliver tax relief for middle-class families”.

We the people need to stop this disastrous tax scheme from becoming law.

Please contact Fred Upton and demand that he withdraw his support from Trump’s “tax cuts for the rich” plan.

Sandy Feldman

Lakeside