Some left-leaning commentators view the limitations on the SALT deduction in the Trump tax cut as progressive, because they impact wealthy people in blue states. I don’t agree, for two reasons: first, it is fundamentally unfair to require anyone to pay taxes on funds that he does not own or control, because they are legally obligated to the government; and second, because the SALT limitation was a gratuitous attempt by red state Republicans to injure people in blue states. It was spiteful, pure and simple.
Hurricane season always comes with a call for blue states to bail out the climate change deniers in the red Gulf Coast states. If I were a blue state member of Congress, I would demand an end to the SALT limitations for my constituents in exchange for disaster relief. The national solidarity street should run both ways, or neither.