The GOP tax reform proposal to remove deductions from one group of people to allow tax cuts for another is not fair and doesn't make sense, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who voted against the House measure, said Tuesday.
"If you taking from one person's pocket to another, the first thing is, it's not a tax cut," Rep. Issa told Fox News' "America's Newsroom."
"It is a redistribution, and this redistribution doesn't make any particular sense."
Further, Issa said, there has been a recognition since 1861, before the Constitution was changed to allow a moderate income tax, "state income tax has a constitutional right to come first."
"It's very clear that the authors of the [House] bill saw this large amount of money, a trillion dollars, and said 'oh, we can pay for other people to get tax cuts and everyone will be happy,'" Issa said. "And the answer is 'no.'"
He referred to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., as a "good man," but said the postcard method being planned for filing simple taxes just means "you might get more than you are entitled to. In other words, more than the expenses you had at one end in the double standard deduction."
Meanwhile, the middle class, "these are people who went to college and have a good job, but they're not rich," will find themselves losing money when they can't deduct the costs of their state income tax, the lawmaker said.
"It will be a tax increase, particularly in New York, New Jersey, and California, but it's wrong in all 50 states," Issa said.
He also insisted California already is giving more to the federal government than comes back to the state, as do New York and New Jersey, meaning states that are already net givers will give even more under the tax proposal.
"I don't think anyone in Congress is looking at who gets and who gives," Issa said. "But if you'e going to, it really makes the case for why this is an unfair tax change."
Further, state income taxes are not discretionary, and they must be paid, he pointed out.
"You don't get to say I gave at the other office of the federal government," Issa said. "They take the money, and you are in a situation in which my constituents, in some cases, will be paying over 56 percent of their ordinary income."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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