Free Republic

California residents, who haven’t elected even a faux-Republican like Arnold Schwarzenegger to statewide office since 2006, say they’re sick of the high taxes they keep voting for. The numbers are overwhelming — shockingly so — for a one-party “progressive” state like California. The Los Angeles Times soft-sold its own poll with this headline: “Taxes too high? A lot of Californians think so.” That headline could have been a contender for Michael Kinsley’s ’80s vintage Boring Headline Contest. The leading example he gave was “Worthwhile Canadian Initiative.” Or at least … a lot of Californians think so. Yawn. But the UC...

The Supreme Court Monday rejected an appeal from several states challenging Congress's cap on state and local taxes that can be deducted from federal taxable income.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is frog-marching her vulnerable members to a political suicide vote on a bill that’s likely dead on arrival in the Senate.On November 2, five House Democrats—enough to block the passage of the spending spree that the party hopes to enact via the budget reconciliation process—wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, urging her “to only bring a bill to the floor for which we have a strong level of confidence…will be ruled in order by the Senate parliamentarian and earn passage in the U.S. Senate.”The lawmakers have justifiable reason for concern. Major pieces of the 2,135-page...

A federal appeals court Tuesday unanimously rejected a suit filed by ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo to overturn a tax overhaul law approved by former President Donald Trump in 2017 that limited federal deductions on state and local taxes. The $1.5 trillion law imposed a $10,000 cap on itemized SALT deductions that taxpayers could write-off on their federal returns, which provided Trump and the then-Republican-led Congress more revenues to pay for other federal tax cuts. The SALT cap largely affects the wealthiest taxpayers in high tax Democratic states in the Northeast — New York and New Jersey, and Connecticut, as well as...

A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected efforts by four Democratic-leaning U.S. states to overturn former Republican President Donald Trump's decision to limit federal deductions on state and local taxes. In a 3-0 decision, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the federal government had authority to impose a $10,000 cap on the state and local taxes that households' itemizing deductions could write off their federal returns. The decision is a defeat for New York, Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey, which challenged the so-called SALT cap implemented as part of a $1.5 trillion tax overhaul in 2017....

States that consistently grew faster than the national average over the past ten years are in line to gain representation in Congress. Democrats will work to undermine people's vote with their feet.The U.S. Census Bureau released its once-in-a-decade national census on April 26. Most of the discussion about the census has focused on states losing or gaining seats in the U.S. House, a process known as reapportionment.For the 2022 midterms, seven states will be down one member of the House: California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina, and Oregon each gained one...

Behind the scenes, congressional Democrats’ main priority is bringing back a big tax loophole for rich people in high-tax blue states: their donors. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has political priorities. During negotiations over the three Wuhan coronavirus stimulus bills, Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tried to include loans for abortion providers, as well as a bailout of the Obamacare exchanges that would end up funding abortion.That led to some bad PR for Pelosi, but the House speaker may be a glutton for punishment. If there’s one thing Democrats are beholden to more than the abortion lobby,...

As CongressÂ’ dual chamber effort to pass an economic relief for Americans affected by COVID-19 continues, with another phase of stimulus relief in talks, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is considering lifting the State and Local Tax (SALT) cap. The limit was a key part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and caps the ability to deduct state and local taxes from federal taxes at $10,000. A handful of blue states with high taxes, including New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, have sued to repeal the SALT cap, as the cap affects wealthier filers the most....

SADDLE BROOK, N.J. — New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez and other members of the state’s congressional delegation announced legislation Monday that would repeal the cap on state and local income tax deductions enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, H.R. 1 (115). Menendez (D-N.J.) and Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), the primary sponsors, say their bill would pay for the cost of removing the $10,000 cap by restoring the top income tax bracket to 39.6 percent. While that’s likely a nonstarter with many in the GOP, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) — New Jersey’s only Republican congressman — is...