McConnell: What’s the rush on Phase 4 coronavirus relief, except for Pelosi’s hobby-horse agenda?

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McConnell: What’s the rush on Phase 4 coronavirus relief, except for Pelosi’s hobby-horse agenda?
Hot Air, Mar 31, 2020, Ed Morrissey

Two key Senate Republicans declared Nancy Pelosi’s tax break for blue-state millionaires dead on arrival — if she has the nerve to actually propose it. The chair of the Finance Committee, which would have to approve the elimination of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap, won’t bother to review it at all. A spokesperson for Chuck Grassley wondered why this would be the time to bring up a tax break for millionaires in high-tax states like California and New York:

The office of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, blasted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after she proposed rolling back a cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions as part of the next coronavirus response bill.

The SALT cap, which was put in place by President Trump’s 2017 tax reform law, limits deductions of state and local tax from federal taxes at $10,000. The cap has been particularly unpopular in high-tax blue states. Grassley’s office argued that eliminating this now would not help the working class, as it would mostly benefit wealthier Americans.

“This is a nonstarter. Millionaires don’t need a new tax break as the federal government spends trillions of dollars to fight a pandemic,” a spokesperson for Grassley said.

Not only will Mitch McConnell oppose a repeal of the SALT cap, he wondered aloud on today’s Hugh Hewitt show why we’re talking about Phase 4 in the first place. Congress just passed a $2.2 trillion dollar relief bill, which has yet to even launch its most direct stimulus of $1200 for nearly every taxpayer and $500 per child. Shouldn’t we wait to see how the CARES Act works first?

McConnell has suspicions that Pelosi will turn Phase 4 into a practical application of Rahm Emanuel’s famous exhortation about crises:

More:  https://hotair.com/archives/ed-morrissey/2020/03/31/mcconnell-whats-rush-phase-4-coronavirus-relief-except-pelosis-hobby-horse-agenda/

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Does Nancy Pelosi know about the coronavirus outbreak?
NY Post, Mar 31, 2020

Someone ought to tell Speaker Nancy Pelosi about the coronavirus outbreak, because her laser focus on pushing her political agenda suggests she’s unaware of it.

The latest evidence: She wants to “retroactively” roll back Congress’ 2017 cap on tax deductions for state and local taxes (SALT), The New York Times reports.

She claims lifting the cap would address the economic fallout of COVID-19. She wants her “fix” to be part of Congress’ next rescue plan.

But her idea has nothing to do with boosting the economy and everything to do with helping Dems in blue states, like California, New York, New Jersey and Illinois. More than half the benefits of a repeal would go to folks making more than $1 million. Don’t Dems oppose tax breaks for the rich?

No, here’s Pelosi’s real problem: Heavily liberal states, with Democratic leaders, generally impose the highest local levies. The SALT deduction let high-income taxpayers recoup part of those high costs by paying less federal tax.

With the cap, though, these taxpayers can’t recover as much, so the local tax bite hits harder. That has these states’ leaders (understandably) fearing wealthy residents will flee, taking all their tax revenues with them. And rather than lower their taxes to prevent that, they want the cap lifted.


More:  https://nypost.com/2020/03/31/does-nancy-pelosi-know-about-the-coronavirus-outbreak/

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Grim Reaper Mitch to Pelosi: I'm Going to Kill Your Stimulus Plan
Townhall, Apr 1, 2020

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just got some bad news from Mitch McConnell. Any talk about another stimulus isn’t going to happen. She may draft a bill, but it’ll meet a swift death in the Republican-controlled Senate. Mitch is the legislative grim reaper for most of what the Democratic House sends his way (via The Hill):

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) hit the brakes Tuesday on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) plan to move ahead with a fourth stimulus package that would include major infrastructure spending and other Democratic priorities.

“I think we need to wait a few days here, a few weeks, and see how things are working out,” McConnell said on “The Hugh Hewitt Show.”

“Let’s see how things are going and respond accordingly,” he added. “I’m not going to allow this to be an opportunity for the Democrats to achieve unrelated policy items that they would not otherwise be able to pass.”

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2020/04/01/grim-reaper-mitch-to-pelosi-im-going-to-kill-your-stimulus-plan-n2566121

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