Ah MrD But to the haters the only blame they can assess is to Trump. Pointing out how little the Feds actually contribute to school districts ( IIRC It is less than 15% of budget) OR how little is actually spent on and in the classroom versus admin costs is ignored.
Just like it was ignored that people in most states do not get to deduct a similar amount and if people do not like paying so much in local and state taxes they can move to other states. Of course the haters think the reduction in SALT was directed only to hurt Dems who now have to pay more.
The same Dems who say the rich should pay more, well except for themselves.
Getting rid of the SALT was done first and foremost to help balance out the tax cuts so they could pass them in the reconciliation process (no need to get 60 votes in the Senate). Did they choose this method because it impacted blue states more than red? Probably. I don't think dumping or limiting it was smart policy, and we might regret it some day.
Take the politics out of the equation for a moment. Forget about red and blue states and the merits or demerits of high taxes. The SALT was essentially the federal government yielding to the states when it comes to money. It was telling the states that they get the first bite at the tax revenue apple, and that's a good thing. We should be more deferential to the states and localities (even when they make stupid decisions), because those governments are closer to the people they represent.
The SALT also encouraged states to fund their own priorities rather than looking to Washington and accepting their money and the myriad of strings attached. For example, consider education. As you correctly pointed out, the feds throw in relatively little money but with it comes a mess of regulations and conditions. They're getting a hell of a lot more power than their money should suggest. With an unlimited SALT, a state could reject that federal money, raise taxes a little (since we're not even talking about that much money in the first place), and it would be free of all the federal regulations and dictates. Without SALT or by limiting SALT, we made that option a lot more expensive.
Here's another thing to consider. If Democrats return to power (and it will happen some day even if not in 2020), they will bring SALT back. However, they won't bring it back the way it was. They will bring it back the way it was before 2004. They will make state income and property taxes deductible but not sales taxes. Well, whom does that screw? Disproportionately, it screws red states.
The bottom line is that by limiting SALT, we just increased the power of Washington and decreased the power of state capitols. If you're a constitutional conservative who values federalism, that is a bad thing. We might like the current benefits of it and enjoy seeing New York and California having to scramble, but structurally, its a bad thing.
But is this something to throw a ****-fit and yell at people and drool about? No.
I was impressed at how civil the rest of the table stayed though this "Independent's" tirade.
What else could they do? Most people have jobs to do and don't have time to get into lengthy political arguments at work. Besides, if they had argued with the guy, would his rage eventually gotten physical? Maybe so. Let's keep in mind that showing Ilhan Omar's comments with a video of what she's talking about is now considered "incitement" - meaning it supposedly rationally encourages violence. These guys are unhinged crazy people.
