Steve's Blog

Today’s lesson is about what the newly-elected members of Congress from the 6^th and 14^th Districts of Illinois don’t know about their jobs.

.

It begins with a headline in the Northwest Herald that says: “Underwood, Casten Call for IRS to Help With Local Tax Burden.” The article goes on to say:

.

“Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Naperville, and Rep. Sean Casten, D-Downers Grove, are urging the IRS to address what they call the disproportionate tax burden on Illinois taxpayers because of the changes in the law, which limit the state and local tax deduction.”

.

The pair wrote a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig expressing their concerns about IRS efforts to alleviate the burden of the new rules as being “insufficient”:

.

“We are concerned that the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) current efforts may be insufficient to alleviate these burdens…Illinoisans are already facing higher federal taxes due to the Republican tax law, which places a uniquely large burden on middle-class families in the Illinois 6th and 14th Congressional Districts. Working families are being unfairly double-taxed, This law limited the state and local tax (SALT) deduction to just $10,000 for individuals and families—a devastating financial blow to many of the nearly two million Illinois households that claim the deduction. SALT taxes allow our communities to pay law enforcement and first responders, offer high-quality public education, and provide a multitude of other services that contribute to the well-being of our communities. We urge your attention to this important matter and request an update in writing on the IRS’s actions to address these burdens on Illinois taxpayers no later than February 12, 2019,”

.

The fundamental ignorance on display in the letter these two sent beggars the imagination. If they don’t understand that the IRS is simply an administrative body empowered to enforce the laws passed by Congress, and has no authority whatsoever to “address the disproportionate tax burden on Illinois taxpayers because of the changes in the law” then what else don’t they know about the responsibilities of the office to which they’ve been elected?

.

It says right there in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, that document they swore an oath to uphold, but probably haven’t taken the time to read:

.

“The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States…”

.

Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that members of Congress can run to the IRS, of all places, to “alleviate the burden placed on the citizens of Illinois by limiting the deduction for state and local taxes.” If they don’t like the tax bill that was passed in the last Congress, the proper remedy for what they’re trying to do is (wait for it!): pass a law! It’s in all the civics books, or at least it used to be.

.

Of course, they aren’t the only Democrats trying to alleviate the tax burden of the very people they’re generally busy trying to gouge. Last year we had a group in the Illinois legislature that tried to change taxes into charitable contributions so as to get around the SALT limitation. That idiotic scheme met the same fate as the appeal to the IRS will have.

.

So, class, this is what you should take away from today’s lesson:

.

If you live in the 6^th or 14^th Congressional Districts of Illinois and you voted for Sean Casten or Lauren Underwood as a way to send a message to Donald Trump, you brought this vacuous nonsense upon yourselves, but unfortunately you brought it upon the rest of us, as well. As Ed Koch famously said after losing his mayoral bid: “The people have spoken, and they must be punished.”