Watchdog Accountable.US Sheds Light on the Special Interest, Self-Serving Motives Behind ‘Build Back Better’ Plan Obstruction

As negotiations intensify in Congress over President Biden’s widely popular Build Back Better plan, government watchdog Accountable.US renews its commitment to shedding a light on the special interest-funded forces pulling the strings of obstructionists in Congress. 

 The Biden plan would help level the playing field for struggling Americans who’ve fallen further behind during the pandemic with smart investments that will lower childcare and health costs, while creating good jobs. Yet many Republicans and moderate Democrats would rather protect their Trumpian tax cuts and continue raking in corporate campaign money that help build an economy that works for people other than millionaires and billion-dollar industries.  

 President Biden’s infrastructure package will, among other things, hold corporations accountable by making them pay their fair share. Americans deserve to know who is behind the effort to block these critical investments that would help lift more families into the middle class: 

 Big Businesses + Tax Evaders 

REPORT: Big Businesses That Banked Tens of Billions From Trump Tax Cuts Now Lobbying On Plans To Make Them Pay Their Fair Share 

Accountable.US released a new analysis finding several major corporations lobbying on the plan were awarded tens of billions of dollars from the 2017 Trump tax cuts. AT&T, Walmart, Apple, FedEx and JPMorgan, which collectively received tens of billions from the Trump tax cuts, are among the companies trying to influence Congress as it works to pass tax cuts for working families and lower health care costs. 

The Washington Post: Corporate America launches massive lobbying blitz to kill key parts of Democrats’ $3.5 trillion economic plan 

Accountable.US President Kyle Herrig: “As if it wasn’t enough that the nation’s most powerful businesses cashed in big during the pandemic while millions of Americans lost their jobs and homes, these corporations are now rallying to block support for working- and middle-class families struggling to get by.” 

 REPORT: As Senate Takes Up Biden Build Back Better Agenda, Corporations Lobbying Against Paying Their Fair Share Have History of Dodging Taxes 

Accountable.US released a new report finding a group of major corporations that have already spoken out and/or lobbied against the tax provisions in President Biden’s Build Back Better blueprint have sordid histories of tax avoidance and tax schemes, amounting to billions of dollars in lost federal revenue. 

Senator Sinema 

REPORT: Sinema Threatened To Derail Biden Build Back Better Plan After Taking $920K From Corporate Interests 

Accountable.US’ analysis found that Senator Sinema received $6,000 from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce PAC — whose leadership boards are packed with corporations that have given her $448,365 — that have vowed to do “everything we can” to block Biden’s budget after offering Sinema a “reward” for resisting Biden’s agenda earlier this year.   

Millionaires + Hypocrites in Congress 

REPORT: Two-Thirds of Senate Republicans Are Millionaires Who Stand To Benefit From Obstructing Biden’s Tax Plan and His Build Back Better Agenda 

A new review from government watchdog Accountable.US finds that at least 125 Republicans in Congress with average net worths of at least $1 million and/or hold assets in excess of $1 million are poised to oppose any effort to raise revenue by having the wealthiest Americans and big corporations pay their fair share in taxes. 

Additionally, Accountable.US launched a new online tool for the public to search whether their representatives in Congress are members of the obstructionist Republican Millionaires Caucus.   

8 Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee Opposing Biden Build Back Better Agenda Worth Approximately $252M 

Accountable.US released new research finding that eight committee members — including Rep. Vern Buchanan who bought a yacht on the same day he voted for President Trump’s tax cuts — have a collective estimated wealth of $252 million.   

Conservative Dark Money + Shadowy Think Tanks and Front Groups 

Watchdog: Group Funded by Big Corporations Attacking Build Back Better Plan Which Would Hold Big Corporate Interests Accountable 

Accountable.US released an analysis today of the corporate donors to the American Action Network, a group that just launched ads attacking the Build Back Better agenda. The analysis finds that between 2009 and 2017, AAN received $12 million from Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the top lobbying group for the pharmaceutical industry. 

Mother Jones: There’s a Flurry of Studies Trashing the Democrats’ Tax Agenda. They Have Corporate and GOP Dark Money Ties. 

“’Corporate interests will say or do anything to preserve the broken status quo, including lie to families that overdue investments in childcare, education, and climate change are somehow not in their interest,’ says Kyle Herrig, the president of Accountable.US, a government watchdog group that researched these ties. ‘These studies are all about manufacturing excuses to do nothing and avoid paying their fair share.’” 

Ad Blitz From Corporate Front Groups Pretend Biden Tax Fairness Isn’t About Them 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and American Action Network are among the latest corporate front groups launching ads distorting the Biden Build Back Better plan to make investments beneficial to working- and middle-class families while ensuring rich corporations pay their fair share.

Big Oil’s Reconciliation Rhetoric Doesn’t Line Up with Reality 

The oil and gas industry is full of misleading rhetoric about the Biden administration’s climate policies, including provisions in the reconciliation package. 

Accountable.US President Kyle Herrig: “This ad blitz is just the latest in the industry’s ongoing campaign to block the Biden administration from investing in climate solutions and support for working- and middle-class families.”