Latest

Pelosi stuck last minute provision in bill – a massive tax cut for wealthy earners

November 6, 2021 | | Print Article

A provision stuck into the latest rewrite of President Biden’s massive “Build Back Better” social and climate spending bill by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) actually contains a large tax cut for wealthy earners, a report noted Friday.

“What the hell? In the mad scramble to re-re-rewrite the huge “Build Back Better” social-spending bill and rush it to a vote, Speaker Nancy Pelosi inserted a huge tax cut for the rich,” the New York Post Editorial Board wrote.

“That’s right: The plan now is to raise the cap on state and local tax deductions for federal income taxes, otherwise known as SALT. The 2017 Trump reforms capped it at $10,000; Pelosi would raise that to $72,500 in 2021, then gradually to $80,000 over the next decade,” the board continued.

Citing the Tax Foundation, the editorial board noted that the provision would equate to a tax cut for more than 70 percent of U.S. households earning more than $200,000, though earners making more than $500,000 would benefit the most.

“Why? Because Democrats from high-tax states, not least Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, knows that the Trump limit makes high earners feel the full pain of living in high-tax states like New York — and so encourages them to move out, taking their entire tax bill with them,” the Editorial Board added.

The editorial speculates that Schumer and Pelosi, both from high-tax states, figure it is better to cut federal revenues from high earning voters than force Democrat majorities in those blue states to cut their tax rates and lose out on the income.

“Meanwhile, the bill hits the middle class hard: The left-leaning Tax Policy Center says 74 percent of middle-class households will pay more as corporate tax increases get passed to consumers and employees,” the Editorial Board added.

Late Friday, Democrats in the House managed to pass a massive $1.2 trillion infrastructure spending bill of which less than half goes to traditional line items like roads, bridges, ports, and railways after 13 Republicans agreed to support the measure when Pelosi fell a few Democratic votes short of passage.

The vote is seen as a victory for Biden after the measure had already passed the Senate.

“Tonight, we took a monumental step forward as a nation,” he said in a statement issued early Saturday by the White House, just days after Democrats suffered humiliating defeats in elections around the country.

A handful of far-left Democrats including Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota voted against the measure because they wanted to see the more expensive Build Back Better legislation passed first.

“Passing the infrastructure bill without passing the Build Back Better Act first risks leaving behind childcare, paid leave, health care, climate action, housing, education, and a roadmap to citizenship,” Omar said on Twitter.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Cori Bush, D-Mo.; Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y.; Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.; and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., also voted against the infrastructure measure.

Republicans, meanwhile, ripped the 13 members of their party who crossed the aisle and helped get the measure across the finish line.

Jon Dougherty
Latest posts by Jon Dougherty (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles