WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats today reaffirmed their support
for a new six-figure tax break for the wealthiest Americans, gutting an
amendment
by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to prevent such tax breaks that leave middle
class and disadvantaged families behind. Grassley’s amendment failed on vote of
48-51.
Democrats have long voiced support for removing the
State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction cap, allowing for massive tax breaks in high-tax
states that
disproportionately
benefit the wealthiest households. Grassley’s amendment would have
preserved the cap and prevented greater disparity in the tax code. Democrats blocked the amendment and
immediately moved to change the subject, leaving the door wide open to their
stated
goals of removing the cap. Democrats
voted
against a similar effort by Grassley to preserve the SALT cap earlier this
year.
“Democrats have indicated they intend to use
reconciliation to provide a $120 billion tax cut to the wealthy via so-called
SALT relief. The non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation estimates 51 percent
of the benefit from a SALT cap repeal would go to those making over $1 million,
while those with incomes under $50,000 wouldn’t see any benefit. And according
to an analysis by the liberal Tax Policy Center, the top one-tenth of one
percent of households would receive an average tax cut of nearly $144,000. Democrats
on one hand claim the wealthy are not paying their fair share, while at the
same time proposing to give millionaires six figure tax cuts. If my Democrat
colleagues are genuine in their concerns about the wealthy paying too little
tax, they should have no problem voting for my amendment,”
Grassley said
during the Senate’s consideration of his amendment.
Grassley
called out Democrats for
blocking his amendment in favor of an “alternative” plan that failed to address
their plan to move forward with tax breaks for the wealthy.
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