
Get Rid of the State-Tax Deduction Altogether - jseliger
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-02-28/salt-deduction-has-to-go
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wahern
I would have been onboard with the deduction cap if the revenue had actually
been used to lower the deficit and help sustain existing expenditures--
regardless of whether I personally agreed with those expenditures. Instead, it
was used to partially offset a corporate tax deduction in a bill which
significantly expanded the deficit.

The bill effectively transfers wealth from the top 10-20%, as well as the top
98-99% of future generations' through their debt burden, and passes it on to
the top 1-2%, putting a few bucks in the pockets of the bottom 50% for good
measure. This is banana republic politics at its finest.

I'm also not enamored of California transferring its wealth to states which
continue supporting inherently broken fiscal policies in Washington. Texas
gets a pass, but almost every other conservative-leaning state uses federal
monies to backstop their own fiscal failures. There's nothing new about rich
states helping poor states--its the whole point of the union--but its
problematic when the poor states sustain such a fiscally craven political
culture.

The benefit of the SALT deduction is that it permits states to raise more
revenue, and because states can't run long-term deficits there's more fiscal
accountability. Making it easier for the Federal government to raise revenue
isn't actually more efficient if the Federal government will simply use it as
a pretense to lower tax rates _and_ (mindbogglingly) run even greater
deficits!

