The good news is that Republicans have stopped trying to use horrible health care legislation to hide their corporate tax giveaways.
The bad news is that their new tax plan is still a monumental gift to the wealthy. They’ve just given up trying to put lipstick on their corporate pig trough.
Their plan starts with cutting the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent.
Simply put, that would mean billions of dollars shifted from the programs that Americans depend upon – transportation, health care, education – into corporate accounts where the money will be used for Wall Street bonuses and investor windfalls.
That – and feed-the-rich plans like repealing the estate tax – would be bad enough, but Californians have more reasons to hate this plan.
The National Association of Home Builders has attacked the plan for potentially causing a housing recession, because it cuts in half the mortgage interest deduction used by ordinary homeowners.
California is already suffering from a shortage of affordable housing. The last thing we need is to slow builders down.
The Assembly, Senate and Governor just got through crafting a broad package of bills to encourage more housing, especially in places where it is most needed.
It is hard to believe that California Republican members of Congress will throw away the prospects of more affordable housing in their districts to score points with a President who is targeting their constituents so baldly.
Here’s another crazy piece: Republicans always complain about how high taxes are in California.
So, they want to tax Californians even more.
The elimination of state and local tax deductions means Californians would pay taxes twice on the same income, even though every study suggests that we pay more in federal taxes than we get back in federal benefits.
Republicans in New York have seen through this charade and some, like Rep. Lee Zeldin and Rep. Peter King, are already voicing their opposition.
In California’s Republican delegation?
Crickets.
Or worse. They’re actually applauding this takeaway from their constituents.
Elected leaders need to lead, even in the face of political difficulty.
As California’s Speaker, I can’t be idle while D.C. Republicans try to soak working Californians for the benefit of their wealthy donors.
I ask my fellow legislators on both sides of the aisle to take this stand with me.