It won’t carry nearly the same honor as that of my grandfather’s comrades who were dying on a literal hill in the South Pacific, 80 years ago today. Still, Republican members of Congress should summon up their resolve and stand ready to let the “one, big, beautiful bill,” or OBBB, die on the hill of significantly higher SALT exemptions.
The current SALT cap allows taxpayers in states with high state and local taxes to deduct up to $10,000 off their total federal income tax bill. The OBBB would raise the SALT deduction cap to $30,000 for those with incomes less than $400,000. This is very generous. Sadly, a small handful of Republicans refuse to recognize as much. With a public display of distinct arrogance, a group led by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) is pushing for far greater concessions.
Frankly, even the $10,000 deduction should not exist in the first place. After all, it is profoundly and unequivocally unfair to allow higher-wealth people to pay a lower percentage of their total income in federal taxes simply because they choose to live in states with higher state and local taxes. If they want to pay lower taxes, these people should relocate to states with lower taxes. Alternatively, they should organize political campaigns to reduce taxes in their existing states. But that would require the choice of personal responsibility over cronyism in Congress.
Even more absurdly, as my colleague Tiana Lowe Doescher notes, Lawler and company lack the courage to say what they want from House Speaker Mike Johnson.
By Tom Rogan
