Even Reagan Couldn't Kill This Tax Deduction

Republicans eager to put the health-care debacle behind them are looking forward to one of their signature strengths: tax reform. Trump has actually done some of the homework here, having unveiled a tax plan back in April.

In it, he targeted a longstanding provision in the federal code: the deduction for state and local taxes, otherwise known as SALT. At first glance, this looks like an idea that Republicans can rally around. Repealing the deduction would disproportionately hurt so-called “blue states” who vote Democratic and thrill leading fiscal conservatives who have also floated the idea: Kevin Brady, the powerful chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, and House Speaker Paul Ryan, who made the rollback a central piece of his own tax plan.