Republican reverse Robin Hood

Last updated on: November 2, 2017 at 8:11 am by Aziz Poonawalla

Republican reverse Robin Hood 2017-11-02T08:11:29-06:00 Aziz Poonawalla

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Data from the Tax Policy Center, Brookings Institution

The House just passed a budget resolution that does two astonishing things: first, it changes reconciliation rules to only require a simple majority instead of the 60-vote threshold in the Senate to overcome a filibuster. Second, it formally states the GOP intention to repeal the state and local tax deduction (SALT) on income taxes.

Big news – Budget just passed!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 26, 2017

SALT is unequivocally a middle-class tax benefit:

The study, conducted by the Government Finance Officers Association using IRS data, found that nearly 40% of tax filers making between $50,000 and $75,000 in 2015 claimed the deduction. That is nearly 7.6 million households.

Of those making between $75,000 and $100,000 (6.9 million households), 53% claimed it, as did 76% of those making between $100,000 and $200,000 (13.9 million households).

and not just in solid blue states, either:

But there are still Republican districts in Democratic states, and as Yahoo Finance demonstrated earlier this year, there are relatively high portions of taxpayers claiming the deduction in swing states such as Virginia, Wisconsin, Colorado and Michigan.

And of course, getting rid of SALT means you are essentially taxed twice – you pay taxes to the federal government, and you pay taxes to the state government on the taxes you paid to the federal government.

Why are the GOP looking to get rid of SALT? so they can make their immense tax cuts for the 1% revenue-neutral. That is literally the definition of taking money away from the middle class to give to the rich.

For ore information about the SALT deduction, see the Brookings Institution’s Tax Policy Center explainer on SALT, and this comprehensive report (PDF) on the fiscal impact of repealing SALT, jointly prepared by the Government Finance Officers Organization, the US Conference of Mayors, the Council of State Governments, the National Governors Association, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties, and a few other orgs.

Previous Post

October 24, 2017

The Weinstein Effect

Next Post

November 30, 2017 electoral mechanics, prologue

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Aziz For America Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 August 2018 July 2018 April 2018 November 2017 October 2017 July 2017 June 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 July 2016 June 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 June 2014 April 2014 March 2014 September 2013 July 2013 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which Christian denomination is known for the "Stations of the Cross"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Catholic Methodist Baptist Presbyterian