EDITORIAL: Pelosi uses virus to push tax write-offs for the wealthy

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to use the coronavirus crisis to pass a massive tax break for the rich. That’s shameless.

Congress has passed three stimulus bills related to the coronavirus pandemic. A fourth measure is already in the works. And as she did on the $2.2 trillion package approved two weeks ago, Ms. Pelosi has indicated she’ll leverage the urgency of the situation to promote a progressive wish list.

In an interview with The New York Times, Ms. Pelosi said one of her objectives for the next stimulus bill will be to “retroactively undo SALT,” the limits on deductions for state and local tax write-offs imposed by the 2017 Trump tax reform.

The primary beneficiaries of SALT deductions are high-income earners. Almost every household that would benefit from such a change earns more than $100,000, according to the Times. The liberal Center for Budget and Policy Priorities found that the top 5 percent of households would receive more than 80 percent of the benefits of restored SALT deductions.

Democrats like to decry tax breaks for the wealthy, but they’re fond of this one. That’s because it helped subsidize the high taxes in blue states such as California, New York and New Jersey. Before the 2017 tax-reform bill, wealthy taxpayers in high tax states didn’t have to bear the full cost of those taxes because they could deduct them. But the reform made eminent sense: If a state such as California wants to impose exorbitant taxes on its residents, the rest of the country shouldn’t be providing a de facto subsidy.

Restoring SALT would also greatly benefit the residents of Ms. Pelosi’s hometown of San Francisco. The median home price in her district is $1.2 million, according to Timothy Carney of the Washington Examiner. Combining that with California’s high tax rates means Ms. Pelosi’s plan would be a boon for the wealthy Bay Area.

Ms. Pelosi’s gambit is no doubt intended to gain votes for Democratic candidates in wealthy suburban districts. But it’s outrageous that she would attempt to push this change under the guise of helping Americans struggling to survive during the virus lockdown.

“It’s almost the exact opposite of what Congress was trying to do with the phase three rebates,” Jonathan McCabe, a welfare policy expert at Endicott College told The Washington Free Beacon last week. “Rather than provide relief to the bottom 85 percent of Americans, this proposal would shower almost all the benefits on the top 15 percent of taxpayers — those who need it least.”

Ms. Pelosi’s remarks on SALT “underscore the potential for further political mischief and long-term damage as government intervenes to stimulate the economy,” The Wall Street Journal noted. Indeed. If Democrats want to lower taxes on wealthy Americans, they should be upfront about it rather than hide it in next coronavirus relief bill.