What does Heritage Foundation define as "good governance"?
I ask because that Heritage Foundation report hinges its entire argument around a definition of good government to justify removing the SALT deductions, but their definition of "good government" is proprietary to Heritage.
Also, a person in Texas who makes a million dollars a year enjoys a cost of living significantly lower than a person with the same income in New York and California, thus one might say that they're actually worth almost double their coastal counterparts because their living expenses, particularly where real property are concerned, are a fraction of what their East and West Coast friends deal with.
And with that in mind:
The SALT cap predominantly affects high-income taxpayers in high-tax states, and high-income taxpayers are more sensitive to higher marginal tax rates. If they are required to pay their full tax burden, they may choose to relocate to lower tax jurisdictions.
The entire reason for removing the SALT deductions can be found in
RED.
The reason it was instituted IS because the new deduction cap IS a politically motivated attack on Democrats and the states and districts they represent.
And that's because in other debate threads, it has been argued by those on the Right that, even if every millionaire and billionaire were forced to pay a higher tax rate, it would amount to a drop in the bucket.
(See: "The write-off is an unfair federal subsidy for high-income taxpayers in high-tax states.")
It's even an argument which
can be found in "commie rags like Forbes".
Incidentally, about that 99%...their big tax break ends in three years. Then it's back to the usual pain and suffering, perhaps with even higher taxes for them.
So why would the Republicans and the Trump administration in particular, be so motivated to put the squeeze on them in the first place? They answer is: THEY AREN'T...they're putting the squeeze on them if they live in Democrat blue states.
The moment they move to red states, the squeeze is off.
And if the combined total effect is, as has been previously argued, a drop in the bucket, then it becomes impossible to argue that low tax red states are subsidizing blue states.
The new Trump tax plan is really just the
closing of a bunch of loopholes and the opening of some new ones, politically motivated ones.