Press Release: US Uncut Confronts former SEIU president Andy Stern at Third Way meeting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Carl GIBSON – [email protected] 601-454-6443

Ryan CLAYTON- [email protected] 202-656-2116

US Uncut confronts Third Way group & former progressive Andy Stern

Opposes Tax Dodging Tax Holiday, Supports Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act

Washington, DC – Today, members of US Uncut, the grassroots effort pressuring corporate tax cheats to pay their fair share, confronted former SEIU head Andy Stern at a Third Way group meeting on corporate tax reform.

Stern has recently been more vocal in his support of the Freedom to Invest Act of 2011, which would allow multinational corporations to bring $1 trillion back to the United States and pay just a 5% tax rate, rather than the marginal 35% US corporate tax rate. If passed, the legislation would grant tax breaks in excess of $80 billion at a time when the nation is more than $13 trillion in debt and while drastic budget cuts are being proposed to nearly all essential public services.

“Why not just make all these corporations pay their fair share just like everyone else? Why not pass the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act and outlaw tax dodging? Why are we rewarding these corporations that are

dodging their taxes?” US Uncut DC organizer Ryan Clayton asked of Stern at the meeting, adding, “And you, sir, should be ashamed of yourself.”

The Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act, authored by Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), would reform the US corporate tax code to close all offshore loopholes currently exploited by 2/3rds of US corporations and result in an additional $100 billion per year in tax revenue. US Uncut is demanding Congress pass Levin’s legislation to offset cuts proposed in the FY 2012 budget.

“It is unacceptable for our leaders to let billion-dollar corporations dodge their tax obligations while cutting nurses, teachers, firefighters and other public servants,” said US Uncut spokesperson Carl Gibson, “If they want to employ our workers, use our public services, and depend on our police and firefighters for protection, they need to pay our taxes.”

As Americans are being forced to endure brutal budget cuts, US Uncut instead calls for an end to corporate tax avoidance, focusing on General Electric, Bank of America, Verizon and other companies that aggressively dodge taxes through overseas bank accounts in known tax havens like the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg and Monaco.

“We already got duped once by this hoax of repatriating profits with Bush’s ‘American Jobs Creation Act,” said Clayton, “It did not create jobs and only opened the door for tax haven abusers to continue to cheat the system.”

US Uncut is a decentralized grassroots movement organized through social media that connects corporate tax cheating to public service cuts. The group has led over 300 actions nationwide since February 2011.

For more information, please visit: http://USuncut.org

For pictures and video of previous actions, please see: http://USuncut.org/actions

US Uncut is a grassroots movement taking direct action against corporate tax cheats and unnecessary and unfair public service cuts across the U.S. Washington’s proposed budget for the coming year sends a clear message: The wrath of budget cuts will fall upon the shoulders of hard-working Americans. That’s unacceptable.

Read more at U.S. Uncut