Every dollar the federal government taxes or borrows away is an extra dollar of control that Congress has over the economy. This is why Republicans should cheer any uncapping of the SALT deduction. Instead, they’re fighting against it. They claim it would be a tax cut for the rich (why that’s bad has never been explained), but they also claim an uncapped SALT deduction subsidizes high tax states.
Well, yes. Precisely. We want to keep the waste in the states that want it, which is exactly why we don’t want Californians and New Yorkers paying through the nose both in state and federally.
Taxes on the rich are taxes on all of us. Again, what Treasury takes in gives Congress ever more power over us. But if we make state and local taxes federally deductible, we at least somewhat keep the waste that takes place in some states from similarly informing Congress’s ability to spend.
Californians and New Yorkers are more comfortable with higher taxes as the taxes they pay locally make plain. Why then, would we harm ourselves by digging extra deep into their pockets nationally so that their funds enable the growth of Congress’s power?
The opinion piece can be found here.
