Here Comes the Tax March!

A season of major marches begins this weekend!

First in the line-up is the Tax March, happening this Saturday, April 15th, in 41 states, 5 countries, and of course, the District of Columbia!

According to Delvone Michael, senior strategist for the Working Families Party, “Without his tax returns, Americans are in the dark about Donald Trump’s conflicts of interest. We don’t know his foreign entanglements, and whether he even pays any taxes at all. Almost everyday we’re hearing more reports about the White House aides’ ties to Russia. We need to know the truth — is the Trump administration acting in the best interest of the American people or a foreign government?”

Inspired by this urgent question, thousands of marchers around the world will demand: “Donald Trump, release your tax returns!” Organizers of the Tax March are also calling for transparent government, legislation that requires presidential candidates to release tax returns, and an end to unfair tax policy that enables corporations and the wealthy to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. You can read more about the goals of the Tax March here.

Dozens of organizations are co-sponsoring the march, including the Working Families Party, Americans for Tax Fairness, the American Federation of Teachers, the Center for Popular Democracy, Indivisible Project, MoveOn.org, Our Revolution, and nearly 50 more! You can see the full list of march partners here.

Residents of New Jersey are lucky to have several nearby march locations to choose from! In addition to the DC March, there are marches or rallies happening in the following places:

• At Bryant Park in New York City
• At Thomas Paine Plaza in Philadelphia
• At Federal Square in Newark
• At the Newton Green in Newton, NJ
• At Cedar Brook Park in Plainfield, NJ

You can find more Tax Marches in other states here.

Even if you are unable to attend a march this Saturday, there are still many ways you can raise awareness of the Tax March and amplify its message. For starters, you can share information and articles about the Tax March on social media before, during and after the event. You can write a letter to your members of Congress letting them know that you support the Tax March and want legislation requiring presidential candidates to release their tax returns, such as the Presidential Conflicts of Interest Act, introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Katherine Clark.  You can write a letter to the editor of your local paper with the same message. Here in New Jersey, where our state lawmakers recently passed legislation requiring presidential candidates to release tax returns before their names can appear on ballots in our state, you can write a letter to Gov. Christie urging him to sign this bill (S3048/A4520) into law!

In addition, the Working Families Party (WFP) has launched a social media campaign around the march. Record a short video explaining why you support the Tax March, or why you will attend it, then post to social media with #WhatAreYouHiding and #TAXMARCH. WFP will then re-share your post.

Saturday is only a few days away — choose a march now to attend and start making your sign! Or, if you can’t march, take another action like those described above to increase the impact of the Tax March.

And then get ready….more marches are on the way! :

• the March for Science (4/22)
• the People’s Climate March (4/29)
• the Immigrants’ and Workers’ March (5/1)
• the Equality March for Unity and Pride (6/11)