Stupidity...

House Speaker Mike Johnson is being pressured on multiple fronts in his efforts to pass a budget reconciliation bill by Independence Day.  Not only is he being pressed by fiscal hawks to make deep spending cuts to cover tax breaks, but he’s also being threatened by blue-state Republicans demanding higher tax deductions to offset their states’ high-tax policies. On Thursday, four Republican House lawmakers from New York stated that they would not vote for a budget bill that puts a $30,000 cap on state and local income tax (SALT) deductions. That’s bad news for House GOP leaders, who are fighting tooth and nail to pass a bill that would extend President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts before their expiration as well as fund border security and the military. “With no notice or agreement, the Speaker … proposed a flat $30,000 SALT cap—an amount they already knew would fall short of earning our support,” reads the statement, signed by Rep. Elise Stefanik, a chairwoman of GOP House leadership. It was also signed by New York Republican Reps. Andrew Garbarino, Nick LaLota and Mike Lawler. pic.twitter.com/NJP0fqg7DW— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) May 8, 2025 A SALT deduction allows residents in high-tax states to deduct their state and local taxes on their federal tax returns.  Under Trump’s first-term 2017 tax cuts—which are set to expire at the end of the year—taxpayers can deduct up to $10,000 on their returns under SALT. Now, blue state Republicans and moderate Democrats are pushing for a higher cap, although they haven’t united publicly on a dollar figure. Lawler, however, introduced a bill in January that would raise the cap to “$100,000 for single filers and $200,000 for married couples filing jointly.” The four Republican lawmakers’ statement goes so far as to warn: “It’s not just insulting, it risks derailing President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.” It continues: “New Yorkers already send far more to Washington than we get back—unlike so many so-called ‘low-tax’ states that depend heavily on federal largesse … We reject this offer.” The statement complicates an already difficult situation for Johnson and House GOP leadership, given that they are also facing pressure from fiscal hawks who demand deep spending cuts to offset tax cuts. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, for example, is demanding $1.4 trillion in 10-year spending cuts to pay for Republicans’ tax-cut goals. Watch my speech on the House Floor:The State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction was the first deduction written into law. You should not have to pay federal taxes on the SALT taxes you have already paid. pic.twitter.com/RJqEzdwZLU— Tom Suozzi (@RepTomSuozzi) May 6, 2025 The Republican SALT faction has found a Democrat supporter in New York Rep. Tom Suozzi, whose Long Island district voted for Trump in 2024. Suozzi sits on the House Ways and Means Committee. “Let’s commend our five colleagues that are standing against their party to say they want to raise the [SALT] deduction … Let’s be fair to make sure that these states that are net donors to the federal government are treated with the proper respect and dignity that they deserve,” said Suozzi in a floor speech this week. But not every SALT deduction advocate is opposed to leadership’s $30,000 cap offer. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said in a statement Friday that “tripling the deduction to $30,000 will provide much-needed relief for the middle-class and cover 98% of the families in my district.” The post SALT in Speaker’s Wounds: Budget Bill Threatened by NY Republicans appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. US Representative Anna Paulina Luna has introduced a bill, the American Privacy Restoration Act, that aims to repeal the Patriot Act, passed in 2001. The Florida Republican believes that what has in the meantime become the notorious post-9/11 legislation, has been abused by “rogue” intelligence officers to carry out mass surveillance in unlawful ways. Announcing the bill, Luna mentioned that the Patriot Act has over the last decades been used to interfere in elections, violate innocent Americans’ privacy by spying on them, and even “settle personal scores.” We obtained a copy of the bill for you here. According to the representative, the ability to misuse and abuse the Patriot Act in such a way turned it into a tool for what is known as “the deep state” – whereas her legislative proposal seeks to take away the ability of these permanent power centers to violate the Fourth Amendment, that should protect against unreasonable searches and seizures. More: 20 Years Later: The Legacy of The Patriot Act and the war on privacy Like a number of other laws, in particular those supposed to regulate intelligence and broader national security work, on paper, the Patriot Act’s condensed purpose is uncontroversial: to expand law enforcement powers, so as to “enhance the federal government’s efforts to detect and deter acts of terrorism in the United States or against United States’ interests abroad.” However, on closer inspection – even before the law’s subsequent slide into controversy – it quickly became clear that the expanded powers were too broad and went beyond surveillance itself, to allow for warrantless searches in some cases, more “information sharing,” as well as access to business records. Critics have been saying that since 2001, the Patriot Act has been turned against Americans themselves, and used as an excuse to subject even those not suspected of any wrongdoing to mass surveillance, all the while sidestepping the necessary guardrails and oversight. Luna believes this has produced “the most sophisticated, unaccountable surveillance apparatus in the Western world.” And she believes it is necessary to act now to rectify this situation. “It’s past time to reign in our intelligence agencies and restore the right to privacy. Anyone trying to convince you otherwise is using ‘security’ as an excuse to erode your freedom,” the legislator is quoted as saying. One of Luna’s unlikely – for political and ideological reasons – allies is the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which has been pushing for reforms of the Act, reminding of the fact that when it was first passed in October 2001, many members of Congress admitted to not having read the bill before voting for it. According to the ACLU, there were “intimations from the Bush administration that those who voted ‘no’ would be held responsible for further (terror) attacks.” If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Luna Introduces Bill to Repeal Patriot Act, Restore Privacy appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. This content is available exclusively to supporters of Reclaim The Net Subscribe for premier reporting on free speech, privacy, Big Tech, media gatekeepers and individual liberty online.   Subscribe   Already a supporter? Login here.                       If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post The Backdoor That Burned the Whole House Down: TeleMessage Breach Shows Fatal Flaws in Encryption Backdoors appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

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