You are wrong to write that “Mr Trump is certainly a New Yorker culturally, from his accent to his braggadocio”. Trump’s accent is that of a crude, poorly educated child of recent German immigrants, his bluster that of conmen and grifters common to the gutters of the world. [17.1208:1730]
4
Your assumptions about Trump are incorrect and you’re, therefore, disappointed. He is OF New York but he’s not FROM New York. For him New York City has always been merely a place in which he can make a living selling his ‘brand’. He was never intimately involved in the cultural/social/philanthropic/economic life of the City. No matter his supposed wealth, his address, or his place of residence Trump was never a ‘New Yorker’.
7
I think there are about 8 million people in NYC now. Per DeBlasio, 700,000 will see taxes go up. What about the other 7.3 million? You all keep talking about income redistribution but now you are worried about the less than 10%?
4
They pay most of the local tax... If they leave - so does a lot of the budget.
3
The poor billionaires: “all of us have zero influence.” Look, if you call the White House and the Treasury Department and Congress and someone picks up, you are way ahead of the rest of us.
Do these people really want us to believe they can't afford to pay taxes?
4
Trump has no "buddies," only enemies he hasn't met yet. He is for himself and only for himself. Anyone stupid enough to believe otherwise deserves what he gets. I'm talking to you, NY Republicans.
3
oh ho, this is a red herring; Donald doesn't HAVE any buddies!
4
I don't understand why there isn't more outcry NOW for Trump to release his tax returns immediately. It's now completely relevant and I don't see what valid excuse there could be .
6
I think it's time for a real conversation to begin regarding the idea of dividing the United States into two separate countries that are governed independently from one another. Our government is broken.
11
It's always encouraging when the 1% oppose a bill that working people should also oppose, as they have far more clout. Of course they'll probably just fix the SALT for the very wealthiest and make up for it by raising taxes on the middle class.
1
He's vague because he doesn't know what's in the bill. Or he's vamping because he's trying to cover his own deterioration. Jokes help.
7
Trump's wealthy New York donors got exactly what they paid for. A malignant narcissist who cares only about himself and his image. They were fools to think Trump would listen to them if it doesn't benefit him politically.
14
As we know, the Republican tax plan is nothing short of a mugging of the middle class in this country and people are increasingly realizing this.
Now I'm waiting for the equal and opposite electoral/legislative reaction from the voters. I'm sure it will be a beaut.
7
Those against this tax bill should emphasize that the average US corporation is actually paying taxes at a 21.% rate, not 35%.
https://itep.org/the-35-percent-corporate-tax-myth/
6
So that's how it goes Larry Kudlow? Trump doesn't care about states that he didn't win so he can fleece them? There may be a lot of millionaires in NYC but I don't know any. I do know a lot of people struggling to survive in this high cost state and they deserve to be represented too.
7
Love the NIMBY Democrats. They scream that we must raise taxes on the rich, and then when Republicans raise taxes on the NIMBY rich, the NIMBYs scream again. The rich liberals who keep saying the rich should pay higher taxes to pay for benefits for the poor should be supporting the elimination of the SALT deduction. Higher taxes on the rich, therefore Democrats should be supporting it.
4
Tony, your point would be reasonable if the majority of the tax cuts were going to middle and low income people. But the majority benefit in this bill goes to wealthy corporations and ultra-rich who make most of their money from the stock market, real estate, and big bonuses tied to the bottom line, not from employment income. Eliminating the SALT deduction supposedly keeps the deficit below a threshold where the democrats could filibuster the bill, so the huge cuts to the ultra-wealthy can go through with a simple majority vote. Elimination of the SALT deduction DOES NOT help middle and lower income people in this bill - it helps the ultra wealthy.
5
Because the whiny Trump donors are Democrats?
You would have a point if the higher taxes went to debt repayment or vital spending, but it’s not. Anyone being asked to pay more as part of a package to blow a TRILLION dollar debt hole in the federal budget should absolutely be outraged!
3
This article serves to highlight how far our pay-to-play political system is from truly representative democracy. Wealthy New Yorkers who have the ability to chat with the President at Park Avenue mansions can whine about losing deductions, but the constituency Trump is truly abandoning with his corporation-friendly tax bill and the gutting of agencies like HUD and DHS are middle- and lower-income New Yorkers struggling to afford basics like housing and food.
10
Maybe NYC could craft a special billionaires' tax or special fee to get revenge and offset some of those high taxes for everyone else.
They could speak louder if they would stop writing checks to his defense fund, I meant campaign. This terrible approach to tax law places greater burdens on working families and less on the uber rich, who can just change their residence to one of their other homes. It will hamper the economy by making it harder to own a home or to get a graduate degree. They need to start over with extensive public hearings to develop the legislation and again to comment on the final proposal. Rushing a bad job to pretend you are capable of accomplishment is a mistake most of us learned baking our first cake.
15
Trump's supporters are not in NY, but it's important to him that the big shots there "like" him. He craves adulation. So there's a chance that he may cave on the tax bill.
4
Why have a Corporate tax rate at all.
If Corporations are now “People”
shouldn’t they be TAXED as “People”?
26
Fully agree. Either tax corporations on their revenues, like individuals, or tax individuals on their profits, like corporations. Most individuals under the second regime would pay no tax since they make no profit at all.
1
Yep. I get taxed on my worldwide income at a much higher rate than corporations--they should too
Appears SALT deduction elimination will sting limousine liberals, lower property values helping those with lower incomes, give strong incentives for the tax and spend liberal politicians to curb their profligate ways. This will actually help non rich folks more in the long run than smoke and mirror Democrat talking points.
5
Republicans to New York:
DROP DEAD!
Blue State Republicans, you have been thrown under the bus.
Small business people, you are being fooled into supporting a massive tax cut for global corporations, your biggest competitors, nastiest suppliers, and stingiest creditors. The only small businesses that will do well under this plan are Real Estate Investment Trusts, and other business entities with few employees but giant incomes, because they are not businesses but tax avoidance schemes.
Mom and Pop shops will at best come out even. You will also be double taxed. (Isn't that why you didn't incorporate?)
Meanwhile, you and your costumers, the workers, will end up holding the bill for the deficit created by this, $3,000 per citizen.
Ryan is already bragging how they can use the deficit they create to loot Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. What will happen to demand when the retirement incomes and health insurance of your customers is stolen?
Do you know that they are ending the personal exemption? That will add $4,500 per family member to your taxable income before anything else is calculated.
Tax cuts for Trump. Under the bus for you.
Even tax and spend is better than borrow and loot.
13
Trump only cares about one thing- how will he personally profit. The GOP is meeting that requirement with this abomination of a "tax plan". I hope New Yorkers make every moment of a Trump visit (for the rest of his life) a nightmare. Let's get him out of here.
8
This should NOT be about "Trump's" buddies - it's all about HIM (blaming his 'buddies').
2
All these rich people could move to Florida tomorrow and sever their connections to New York, thus avoiding all manner of taxation. The real problem is that at least 1 million New Yorkers who don't have that flexibility will see their taxes rise, just as the GOP intends for NY, CA, MA, etc.
30
Perhaps it is time for us in high tax states to go along with Red American and cut federal income taxes. If we can't deduct our state, local and property taxes let's send the minimum to the federal government and establish regional agencies to fund education, transportation, healthcare, etc. We will fund these with our state taxes.
29
Yes, it's time to call their bluff.
Democrats should call for cutting the personal income tax rate to zero.
8
I have to agree. Almost all federal income tax goes to funding the military and bases strategically placed across every county in red fly-over country and the rest goes to poor people in rural areas that require federal subsidies to make up for lack of scale (urban poor can be funded locally due to a larger overall population sharing the burden).
If all of the Republican congressmen in New York and California are voted out next year, Republicans will lose their majority in the House and the tide may start to turn.
10
Trump is not much different than many wealthy New Yorkers who make all the money they can and then flee to a no income tax state later on.
But it also happens on the other end of the spectrum. If you attend a CUNY like when I did you will see students who receive loads of benefits in receiving a low cost college degree (some even get free MetroCards)... Yet you will find many who as soon as they graduate will flee to a low tax state. At both ends of the spectrum we see that people are just selfish. They benefit but don't want to pay themselves..
2) Trump was elected President but would have never won mayor or governor in NY
3) Blue states already subsidize red... The gall of Republicans to say the rest of the country shouldn't subsidize local and state taxes is the worst math equation I have seen. (I'm an Independent).
7
Maybe New York will be a more liveable place for the non rich if the real estate market cools down.
3
Global billionaires will still use N.Y. Luxury apartments to launder money.
1
Average growth in the 1950s was, 4.25 %
Average growth since the Bush Tax Cuts is 2%, less than half.
In the 1950s the top tax rate was 90%, and the corporate rate was 50%
Now the top rate is 39%, and the corporate rate is 35%.
Growth shank after the Bush tax cuts, slashing revenue and creating the debt they keep blaming Obama for.
Brownback experiment crushed the Kansas economy.
Lower taxes lead to lower rates of growth. Tax cuts not only don't pay for themselves, but lower incomes and Theodore revenue. Dynamic scoring should reflect this fact, not the fantasies of Republican politicians.
And democrats need to start explaining this to the People as loudly and proudly as republicans lie.
7
I do wish that Trumps taxes were onview. We have been told that he gets most of his income as "pass through" which will be taxed much more favorabley under the tax as proposed.
Could it be that the ownership of his domiciles is under corporate or another form of ownership such that he will be able to write off property taxes as business expenses? He pays nothing in taxes willingly, and never backs a plan unless it benefits him personally.
It only makes sense: it remains imperative that we learn how he reports his earnings and holdings. It also occurred to me that the iRS is in a really tough spot in auditing his returns. ASide from understaffing, if he was found to owe more taxes - especially if they discovered possible fraud -- he could not only delay the process as he has -- but pardon himself - and his accountants, etc, -should there ever be an accounting that nailed him.
6
Brilliant that this tax bill hurts billionaires and my husband and I who drive a 2002 Honda Civic, bought a house within our budget and do not have any children because of the cost.
8
No, NY isn't Trump's home state. He loves middle America, where our purple mountains and amber waves of grain are, and where his brand of leadership has the best chance of flourishing.
6
"brand of leadership"
??
Larry Kudlow is right, "It's a blue state tax". And without it, it's a blue state subsidy. The removal of this subsidy will expose the high-cost, high state and local tax rates. Everybody wants reform until they are the ones being asked to reform.
8
The blue states already pay more. If you want to play totally fair why don't we just equal out the payments from each state?
50
As Sergey pointed out, almost all the large (mostly blue) states pay much more into the federal government than they get back out. Not surprisingly, the money they don't get back goes to the small (mostly red) states. That's why so many small/red states have low state taxes; they are subsidized by the federal government using blue state dollars. This completely unfair system results largely from the small states' completely disproportionate, and therefore undemocratic, power in the Senate. It's a crime.
14
I've been an advocate for a flat tax for years; both on corporate and individual. No write offs of any kind, especially for mortgage, child tax and charitable contribution. Pay for what you can afford to pay and give what you can afford to give; and that goes double for our expensive government.
3
Trump has buddies??? Really? Enablers, obviously....but buddies?
39
New York republicans that supported Trump deserve this. But the rest of do not - and of course, those with enough money to provide support that Trump cares about will not be hit to the same degree because more of their income is of a type that will be taxed more favorably.
19
I have an idea that could help this bill become much more palatable to high state and local taxed states. Require states to put in as much money to the treasury as they take out. Fair enough.
South Carolina receives $7.87 back from Washington for every $1 its citizens pay in federal tax. Mississippi and New Mexico, get back about $3 in federal spending for every dollar they send to the federal treasury in taxes. Alabama and Louisiana are close behind. The disproportionate amount of federal aid that some states receive allows them to keep their own taxes artificially low.
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/05/which-states-are-gi...
86
And even with all that they get, they provide inferior sevices.
12
Can we ask the Blue States to provide men and women to the armed forces at the same rate as Red States?
2
If it is true that red states “provide” men and women to the armed forces in greater percentages (of population) than blue states, it’s only because young people in business-friendly red states can’t find decent paying jobs, and so are susceptible to an economic draft.
4
I think hurting the blue states is more orchestrated and intentional than people think it to be. They expect to bleed the main power of blue states (that of per capita wealth) and force the democratic state governments to make tough and unpopular decisions to address loss of revenue. This could result in them to losing power in the state level. So, this will give GOP further gerrymandering opportunities (come 2020) to consolidate their hold on the government.
47
Actually, we know it's aimed at us. We are under no illusions whatsoever about how much this government hates our liberalism and generosity.
6
It may backfire if a bunch of blue state liberals are forced to move to red districts. They may cease to be red districts.
One street in NY has as many people as some of the red states. It wouldn't take many of us to take over local politics.
5
So this tax bill, passed mainly to satisfy wealthy donors with a "win", is being panned by wealthy donors? Rich!
11
My birth state of New York will be devastated once again. It wasn't enough the the public pension system and high energy costs made it imperative to leave the state.
4
Great to see New Yorkers finally paying their fair share.
Complaints? Contact Cuomo and DeBlasio to reduce state and local taxes.
6
New Yorkers (and Californians, and other high state taxes) already pay more into federal taxes than they get back. For many red states it is the opposite.
Complaints? Stop asking for federal handouts to make for low local taxes.
6
Lol. What planet do you live on that New Yorkers don't pay their fair share?
Even after deducting the high SALT we pay, New York *still* grosses the 3rd most in federal taxes and our federal taxes paid per capita is 30% higher than the two states that gross more (California and Texas).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_tax_revenue_by_state
6
The blue states are the engines that subsidize the red States, because red States get far more federal spending per person than blue States.
If you hypocrites were honest, instead of raising our taxes to pay for your tax cuts, you would stop taking more from the federal government than you give.
15
TRUMP BASE JUMPING
The Times' excellent charts showing how the tax proposals selectively hurt Democratic donors reveals the clarity of purpose in the Trumpian Republican Party: to support the base in the Fox News bubble who supports them.
They are too selfish to realize how they are painting themselves in a corner of a shrinking base, as the recent Pew poll suggests, with a lowering 32% supporting Trump.
Good. Let them keep doing that. Godspeed!
11
Who believes in polls anymore, especially after the 2016 election?
3
It will be most interesting to see the financials and tax returns of the con man. If we get the chance, I bet we will see a pattern of executive orders, laws, etc. ensuring his continued self-enrichment. This poor excuse for a president is only concerned with himself. His corruption is mind-blowing.
16
Any chance of connecting the dots from Trump's past and recently timely NYC failures to this legislation?
1
There's a stronger connection to be made between his travel schedule and thsoe overnight bouts of all-cap incoherence. Someone needs to put this poor sick old man on the no-fly list.
Donald Trump is joyously presiding over the raping of the American Middle Class, with his help Paul Ryan is going to try and destroy Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, wit Trump's assistance.
20
The people this article is discussing hardly qualify as the "American Middle Class."
2
New York consists of plenty of working poor, what about them?
With a "colleague" like Trump, who needs enemies?
5
The same people who regarded Trump's father- as a low level slum lord, are the ones asking Trump for a favor! Fat chance!
3
"White House aides said that the federal government should not be subsidizing high-tax states and that beneficiaries of such local deductions are typically high earners."
Hilarious. The high tax states subsidize the low tax states through the federal government.
71
Yes! This is the oldest, largest swindle in the U.S. -- broadly speaking, the way that citizens of small states steal from citizens of large states using the federal government and leveraging their completely undemocratic and disproportionate political power in the Senate (and, to a much lesser extent, the Electoral College). A historical crime of huge proportions, and one that the small states ensured could never be corrected when they insisted on insurmountable rules for altering the Senate's basic undemocratic structure.
5
Why should Trump pander to N.Y. ? They are blue blue blue. He can never please them.
1
He should be distasteful to everyone.
Hey Steve, I'm pretty sure Long island is in NY. You may want to check into that.
Why should Trump pander to New York?
Because he's the President of the United States and he's supposed to do what's best for the entire country rather than help the (less than) half that voted for him at the expense of the (more than) half that didn't.
5
The Con Don's Robber Baron buddies, in New York and around the world, are getting plenty of payback for buying OUR white house and installing him.
Bloomberg has an excellent article toady about how The Con Don and his International Mafia Robber Baron brethren are stealing so much money. They are under investigation around the world and it's time for them to come down - before they can start WW3.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-12-08/how-to-launder-1-bill...
8
"Con Don" doesn't sting the way you think it does. Your target likely takes it as a compliment.
The lovable con is a staple of American popular culture. Bret Maverick. Professor Harold Hill. The TV shows "Hustle" and "Leverage." Gov. Edwin Edwards. John Gotti.
OK, smartypants, I hear you say, what's your alternative?
Glad you asked:
"Deadbeat Don."
It's alliterative and accurate. But more to the point, there are no lovable deadbeats. None.
You're welcome.
Try it now.
1
Just watch... Trump will file to become a full-time resident of Florida... in 3...2....1
25
Well maybe not. His mausoleum is already built at the country club he owns in Bedminster NJ.
It's payback time for the blue states refusing to support his obscene candidacy. Unfortunately for us, as President Obama noted, "elections have consequences" and we are about to reap ours. The only possible bright side is that it might force Albany to cut back because I foresee the state becoming even less attractive to business than it is now. All the corporate tax breaks in the world won't help if the employees don't want to live there.
8
How I wish my free speech would count just as much as people with gobs of money. Sad state of affairs for democracy.
44
All of these wealthy people should remember that their wealth depends on a functioning economy. Killing the local economy won’t help them regardless of tax cuts.
Once the pain of paying all that extra federal tax filters through the economy and creates further state and local tax, spending, and debt service pressures, New Yorkers and Californians are going to be looking for new tax and spending targets. Voters will demand that the winners share this burden one way or the other.
It baffles me that any New Yorker would support hosing his own state for this low tax ideology. Many upstate districts are benefiting from the income transfers funded by those “elite” wealthy districts. If they decide to pass along that pain, and they will, those subsidized districts that enabled this disaster will be targeted next by angry “elites”.
Watch out what you wish for. You’re living on other people’s money and they are going to want it back, they won’t sacrifice their own schools and infrastructure for the ingrates who targeted them.
5
Not nearly enough is being said about how this tax bill is another means of consolidating and keeping the GOP in power. It is punishment of the opposition (blue states) and a gift to GOP donors and wealthy corporations who put the GOP in power in the first place. The disruption of American democracy continues.
21
Obviously the bill would hurt real estate values in NYC, the basis of wealth for trump's New York friends (especially LeFrak).
Just as obviously, the fact that trump has very little true ownership interest in real estate in NYC means he's not hurt by the bill.
trump's indifference to this aspect of this bill shows that his clams of wealth are blatant lies.
33
Trump bites hand that feeds him......
19
Of all the people in the world, Trump's real estate buddies should have known that Trump looks out for Trump and nobody else. Spare us the tears that your money didn't buy you any influence. You knew better.
59