This is classicker than Coke.
Andrew Stiles of The National Review wrote the following in Schumer: Tax the Rich, Just Not My Rich (emphasis added):
CBS News reports that Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) isn’t such a big fan President Obama’s plan to raise taxes on households making more than $250,000 a year.
After announcing his new deficit-reduction plan at the White House today, Obama traveled to New York for a fundraising event (tickets are listed at $36,000 per person).
Reporter Marcia Kramer asked lawmakers from the area what they thought of the president’s tax proposals. Most were pretty cool with the tax increases, but Schumer stood out among his colleagues:
Senators Charles Schumer of New York, Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey all support the millionaire’s tax.
Menendez, Lautenberg and Kirsten Gillibrand support eliminating some or all of the Bush tax cuts. Schumer said the $250,000 limit is unacceptable since it will hit the metropolitan area disproportionately because of the high cost of living here.
“$250,000 makes you really rich in Mississippi but it doesn’t make you rich at all in New York and there ought to be some kind of scale based on the cost of living on how much you pay,” Schumer said.
Perhaps Caroline Kennedy will nominate Mr. Schumer for a Profiles in Courage award for this.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Knox Marlow // Sep 21, 2011 at 5:42 pm
Schumer is correct about the relative “significance” of income in high-cost versus low-cost jurisdictions. I believe a Democratic House member from New York introduced a bill in 2010 that would index taxes to reflect cost-of-living differentials.
2 Peter // Sep 22, 2011 at 1:40 am
Knox,
There are non-economic reasons people to choose to live in high-cost-of-living cities. If they are willing to share the non-economic benefits with those folks who have chosen to live in less costly cities, then I would be all for the cost of living adjustment.