New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood, who replaced disgraced and unhinged NY AG Eric Schneiderman, thinks she on to something, but could be opening a huge can of worms that she might not like, nor will those in NJ, CT, and Md, which are part of the suit (via Twitchy)
https://twitter.com/NewYorkStateAG/status/1019220295851229190
From the press release as linked in tweet
Today, New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced a lawsuit to protect New York and its taxpayers from Washington’s drastic curtailment of the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction. The lawsuit argues that the new SALT cap was enacted to target New York and similarly situated states, that it interferes with states’ rights to make their own fiscal decisions, and that it will disproportionately harm taxpayers in these states. Click here to read the lawsuit.
The 2017 federal tax law, which resulted from a hyper-partisan and rushed process, drastically reduced the deduction by capping it at $10,000. An analysis by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance shows that the cap will increase New Yorkers’ federal taxes by $14.3 billion in 2018 alone, and an additional $121 billion between 2019 and 2025. As set forth in the complaint, the law flies in the face of centuries of precedent, which establishes constitutional limits on the federal government’s ability to use its tax power to interfere with the sovereign authority of the states.
For the entire history of the United States, every federal income tax law protected the sovereign interests of the states by providing a deduction for all or a significant portion of state and local taxes. This uninterrupted history demonstrates that the unprecedented cap on the SALT deduction is unconstitutional, as the lawsuit notes.
First off, things change. Welcome to life, Democrats! Second, this mostly affects high tax earners. Are Democrats suddenly in favor of “the rich” after years of scapegoating them? Third, the Constitution provides (unfortunately) the federal Congress the means to enact tax policy, and doesn’t say it has to have a SALT deduction capped. Fourth, suddenly Democrats are interested in States’ Rights. Fifth, I thought Democrats were invested in people “paying their fair share”? No?
As Daniel Darling tweets: For those scoring at home: NY is mad that the federal government doesn’t have a tax break to cover their high state taxes. And Phillip Klein: “This is a completely idiotic lawsuit. Idea that limiting a federal tax deduction in a way that applies equally to all states is a violation of state sovereignty is absurd.”
Which brings to mind the final point about taxes: Does she mean like how NY targets tobacco users with extra (punitive) taxes not applied to other products? How about on the products lawful gun owners purchase? Or that the state gives tax breaks to some businesses and not others? That some people pay a higher tax rate than others because they earn a lot of money, which seems like unequal protection under the law? Did she consider the can of worms that this could open? This might be a great can of worms to open, to make taxes equal across the board.
At the end of the day, this frivolous, foolish, wasteful suit will be thrown out quickly.
Next, “climate change†is unconstitutional….
Even The Notorious R.B.G. would laugh this one out of court, if she were awake.