Democrats falsely claim that the Republican tax reform framework increases taxes on the middle class, namely because of the elimination of the state and local tax deduction. However, this deduction actually subsidizes upper income earners in high tax states, such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) who took a $58,000 tax deduction because of SALT.
The democrats push to preserve this deduction is a blatant contradiction with their charge that the tax framework benefits the wealthy.
As noted in publicly available tax records, Senator Schumer deducted over $58,000 in state and local taxes in 2015. The size of this deduction is comparable to the U.S. median household income of $59,000 per year.
At the same time as he is benefiting from SALT deductions, Sen. Schumer is spreading blatant lies about the deduction in an attempt to tie it to middle class tax relief. For example, Senator Schumer previously claimed that eliminating the deduction “socks it to the middle class,” despite the fact that the deduction is mostly used by upper income earners, a fact noted by the liberal Tax Policy Center.
Democrats even recently voted to preserve SALT in an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2018 budget resolution – a position that conflicts with their accusation that the tax reform framework benefits the wealthy.
These developments come just a month after Schumer called on fellow Democrats to “not go along with a tax plan that includes a tax cut for the folks who need it least.”
Schumer’s stance on the state and local tax deduction is also a sharp contrast to his support for the estate tax or ‘death tax’ – a policy which disproportionately hurts small family businesses and the workers they employ. Schumer’s fellow Democrat Senator Sanford Bishop of Georgia has echoed these concerns, describing the tax as “politically misguided, morally unjustified and downright un-American” because of its impact on small and medium-sized businesses in his rural electorate and across the nation.
These contradictions detract from the misleading ‘class warfare’ narrative championed by Schumer and Senate democrats. They reflect the role that partisan politics plays in undermining badly-needed tax reforms which will provide major relief to America’s middle class and will drive investment, economic growth, job creation and prosperity.