The Attorneys General of a few states in the northeast (NY, NJ, CT etc.) have filed a suit in federal court seeking to overturn the tax cut act as unconstitutional because the new law changed the deduction for state and local taxation. According to these legal geniuses, the limitation on this deduction discriminates against high tax states, something that Congress cannot do.
I've had a chance now to read the complaint. To be fair, I've read a lot of complaints over the last 40 years of practicing law. Here's my first reaction:
ha
ha
ha
ha
HA
HA
HA
The Constitution specifically authorizes Congress to levy the tax in the way it did. Here is the 16th Amendment to the Constitution:
"The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration."
Taxes levied "without apportionment among the several states" means that Congress could pass a tax that hits only some states and leaves others untouched. The only requirement is that Congress have a rational reason to do this. In fact, if there is a problem with treating states in different ways, then it would be the old law that allowed taxpayers in high tax states to deduct all their state taxes while denying the same deduction to taxpayers in low tax states a deduction that would be unconstitutional. Of course, that was not the case.
I know it is an election year. I also know that there are some judges out there across the country who are prepared to issue decisions for political purposes even if those decisions are not in accordance with the law. Still, the idea that some moronic Democrat Attorneys General have brought a completely baseless suit to try to disrupt the tax cuts enacted last year is a disgrace. These people should be run out of office. They are using public funds to force the waste of even more public funds.
I've had a chance now to read the complaint. To be fair, I've read a lot of complaints over the last 40 years of practicing law. Here's my first reaction:
ha
ha
ha
ha
HA
HA
HA
The Constitution specifically authorizes Congress to levy the tax in the way it did. Here is the 16th Amendment to the Constitution:
"The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration."
Taxes levied "without apportionment among the several states" means that Congress could pass a tax that hits only some states and leaves others untouched. The only requirement is that Congress have a rational reason to do this. In fact, if there is a problem with treating states in different ways, then it would be the old law that allowed taxpayers in high tax states to deduct all their state taxes while denying the same deduction to taxpayers in low tax states a deduction that would be unconstitutional. Of course, that was not the case.
I know it is an election year. I also know that there are some judges out there across the country who are prepared to issue decisions for political purposes even if those decisions are not in accordance with the law. Still, the idea that some moronic Democrat Attorneys General have brought a completely baseless suit to try to disrupt the tax cuts enacted last year is a disgrace. These people should be run out of office. They are using public funds to force the waste of even more public funds.
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