The GOP tax cut: Some facts
In an effort to keep up with their self-described “resistance” movement, California Democrats are engaged in a full-fledged attack against recently enacted federal tax reform legislation that provides tax cuts for most Americans and Californians.
Ironically, these same Democrats who claim to be focused on the poor and needy are engaged in non-stop howling over two provisions of the new tax law:
•A cap of $750,000 on mortgage interest deductions, and
•A $10,000 limit on the deductibility of state and local taxes.
In other words, they’re complaining the new tax law doesn’t do even more to help the wealthy – who also happen to be their constituents. In Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco district, the average home is worth a million bucks. In Rep. Ted Lieu’s West Los Angeles district – the second wealthiest in the nation –home prices are even higher.
Sure, if you can afford to live in an affluent area of the state such as the Bay Area where the median home price has skyrocketed above $900,000, there’s a possibility you could be left with a higher tax bill.
However, if you live in poorer areas of the state such as the Central Valley or an inner city, chances are you probably won’t come close to needing to write off astronomical amounts of mortgage interest.
As a matter of fact, the median home price for the rest of the state rests well below elite coastal areas like the Bay Area. Average inland home prices are typically in the mid $300,000s or lower.
Further, the mortgage interest deduction is a non-issue for the nearly half of Californians who don’t own homes and are forced to pay the highest rents in the nation.