“The tax bill now passed by Congress undermines the well-being of women and families while rewarding mega-corporations with permanent tax breaks that will not ‘trickle down’ to middle and low income families and individuals but ensure our march to ever greater inequality goes on indefinitely.

“There is much to denounce in the tax bill. A quick list includes cuts in tax rates for the superrich and cuts to the estate tax that represent a transfer of $150 billion from the federal treasury to the country’s wealthiest families. Income tax cuts for the middle class would expire within ten years while corporate taxes are slashed permanently.

“The provisions that purport to help families with child care in fact do nothing for those who need help the most. The attack on the Affordable Care Act that failed earlier this year has been reenergized by the elimination of the mandate to buy insurance or pay a tax for refusal to participate. Without this, we will see the insurance market destabilize as well as higher premiums.

“Perhaps most egregious, the cuts to revenues endanger programs such as Medicare, Medicaid , and Social Security by triggering rules that would force Congress to make up for shortfalls in those programs by slashing benefits, since revenue increases would be off the table when the tax bill becomes law.

“The GOP promised a simpler, fairer tax system and instead delivered one that enriches the already-rich, penalizes working families, and is not ‘reform’ at all. rather, it is a tax giveaway without regard to the current and future needs of the vast majority of the country’s population. Going forward, those in Congress who oppose this policy disaster must do their utmost to undo its most pernicious effects if not undo it entirely.”