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**NOVEMBER 5, 2021**

Kuttner on TAP

SALT in the Democrats' Wounds

Why are Democrats cutting taxes for the rich, at the expense of building
back better?

The headline on page one of today's

**New York Times** is the stuff that progressive dreams are made of:
"Trucker Ousts Power Broker in New Jersey." Edward Durr, a political
novice and a truck driver for a furniture chain, defeated the longtime
New Jersey Senate president, Stephen Sweeney, by 2,298 votes, in his
South Jersey state Senate seat.

The only problem is that Durr is a Republican and Sweeney is a Democrat.
And there in a nutshell is the Democrats' dilemma-the loss of the
working class.

Another indicator: As part of the long-awaited budget deal, Democrats
from high tax/high public service states, led by Chuck Schumer of New
York, demanded that the cap on state and local tax deductions against
the federal income tax be lifted from its present ceiling of $10,000 to
$72,000. Schumer prevailed. This will help no working-class people, but
it will help lots of affluent homeowners save on their federal taxes.

The revenue cost is about $300 billion over the four-year budget window.
But thanks to the weird budget scoring rules, the nominal cost more than
disappears over ten years because the cap was set to entirely expire in
2025, which would have cost even more. The other tax provisions in Build
Back Better will raise some $2 trillion

from the rich over a decade. Still, you could pay for a lot of public
investments with $300 billion.

The politics are tricky here, because the cap was a gift from Donald
Trump to screw taxpayers in blue states. Prior to Trump's 2017 tax
cut, there was no cap. Taxpayers could deduct all of their property
taxes against the federal income tax. In a law that cut taxes for the
rich in every other respect, Trump found a way to raise taxes for
affluent Democrats, since high housing prices and high property taxes
for the upper middle class are found almost uniformly in states like New
York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and California.

The irony is that if Biden can get most of Build Back Better, provisions
like child care, free community college, a permanent child allowance,
and paid family leave could do a lot to win back working-class
affections. If only.

There is one silver lining in this story. The New Jersey power broker
whom the Republican trucker took out was the epitome of a corporate
Democrat, who blocked a lot of progressive legislation.

Politics does make strange bedfellows.

~ ROBERT KUTTNER

Follow Robert Kuttner on Twitter

Robert Kuttner's latest book is
The Stakes: 2020 and the Survival of American Democracy
.

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Manchin's Cherry-Picking of Budget Estimates

He has deficit concerns with the Build Back Better Act. But the same
analysts he cites think his bipartisan infrastructure bill is even worse
for the deficit. BY DAVID DAYEN

A Missing Link in the Fight Against the Climate Crisis

Under Trump and in the years of austerity, scientists fled the EPA and
other agencies. The race to save the planet requires swift and extensive
hiring policies. BY ELEANOR EAGAN & FATOU NDIAYE

Altercation: Of Parents, Teachers, and Those Who Exploit Their Anxieties

The history of movements at both ends of the spectrum fomenting rage at
conscientious teachers BY ERIC ALTERMAN

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