GOP picks fight over states' rights in coronavirus relief

[DonViejo]

BY HARPER NEIDIG - 03/21/21 06:00 AM EDT

Republicans are aiming to stir up a legal battle over Biden's pandemic relief bill, targeting a provision in the American Rescue Plan they say is an unconstitutional infringement on states' ability to devise their own tax policies.

A provision in the bill that forbids states from using billions in aid to offset any tax cuts they might implement has sparked a backlash from Republican lawmakers and state attorneys general. Their criticisms could lay the groundwork for a court battle over states' rights and government overreach akin to the Supreme Court case over the fate of ObamaCare.

This time, the GOP appears to be framing the issue as the Biden administration getting in the way of state and local leaders cutting taxes for their own residents.

On Tuesday, a group of 21 Republican state attorneys general sent a letter to the Treasury Department threatening legal action if the administration intends to prevent states from cutting taxes.

more
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/544111-gop-picks-fight-over-states-rights-in-coronavirus-relief

[ananda]

1. I guess there's a lot of money behind this from people..

who want tax cuts, and Reeps who like corrupt practices.

[PortTack]

2. Including the politicians that are suing!! Give tx breaks to the rich, they kick it back to the

Qgop that gave them that tax break

Disgusting and sooo obvious....money ear marked for those who needed it, taking it for themselves

State sovereignty..my ass!

[ananda]

10. Absolutely!

It's all about fucking greed over helping real people
who need it.

[Irish_Dem]

3. GOP is trying to figure out how to get their hands on this money.

Huge tempting pile of money.

[KPN]

4. Fuck them! I live in a blue State. I don't want my

tax dollars being converted into tax cuts for GOP voters in red States.

[Grins]

5. Nothing - NOTHING - means more to the GQP than TAX CUTS!

Economic disasters, depressions, wars, and now pandemics, nothing alters their only objective, the ONE goal they really have.

All else is a screen to get enough Reich-wing bigots and imbeciles to vote for them so they can cut taxes. And that has been true for DECADES.

[dlk]

6. Republican greed has no limits

They couldn’t care less about the massive suffering millions of Americans, especially children. This is what malignant narcissism looks like.

[edhopper]

7. Congress has the absolute right

to dictate what the money is used for. If the Red States don't like it, turn it down, like they did Medicaid expansion.

[dixiechiken1]

8. Pretty simple really...

You don't like the conditions, don't take the money. This is how these things work. Money is rarely, if ever, given without conditions attached. Everything is situational with the GQP. Everything.

They have no problem putting conditions on the poors for them to get aid - i.e., work requirements for Medicaid, drug testing for TANF - but heaven forbid the rich don't get more tax breaks on our backs, y'know... just because. (Because let's face it, it's always about cutting taxes with these assholes.)

I fucking hate these people.

[Hortensis]

9. This should be settled law already. The federal government

paying costs that would otherwise fall on states' shoulders has always created opportunity for anti-tax conservatives to cut state taxes (of course mainly to entirely benefitting the wealthy). This must have gone to court numerous times.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

12. This is a dumb lawsuit

The provision in question provides that a requirement for a state to agree to in order to receive the funds that they do not use funds for tax cuts. The Fed. govt. can attach conditions to the grant of funds and does so all of the time. If the state wants to do a tax cut, then do not accept the Fed. Govt. funds