Friendly Fire: Biden’s speech, Joe D’s jail, and Gottheimer’s bête noire – NJ.com

Can Americans still have a sensible and friendly political discussion across the partisan divide? The answer is yes, and we intend to prove it. Julie Roginsky, a Democrat, and Mike DuHaime, a Republican, are consultants who have worked on opposite teams for their entire careers yet have remained friends throughout. Here, they discuss the week’s events with Tom Moran, editorial page editor of The Star-Ledger.

Q. Let’s talk about President Biden’s speech: What explains the grand scope of his ambitions in such a divided time?

Mike: Biden is taking advantage of the country’s recent disgust with President Trump to go well beyond what’s needed financially to rebound from the pandemic. Biden is enacting an expensive big government spend that would make FDR and LBJ blush. Americans are so focused on the pandemic that they can’t see the money flying out of the pockets of their children and grandchildren who will be stuck with the bill.

Julie: President Biden has been in Washington for a very long time and he knows how the game is played better than anyone. He also served as Vice President for eight years and learned from the mistakes of the Obama years. He knows that he has two years to go big and that Republicans are completely uninterested in compromise, so why not get accomplished what he can while Democrats have the political capital?

Mike: Julie’s right. Very little of this big-spending agenda would get done if Republicans had a seat at the table, so from a policy perspective, he’s right to go for it now.

Q. Ted Cruz nodded off, and Republicans didn’t applaud even the prospect of cutting child poverty in half. Does Biden have a prayer of winning GOP votes or is the deep freeze destined to continue?

Mike: Who doesn’t support lowering child poverty rates? The disagreement is about how best to lift people from poverty – government programs or economic growth that reaches everyone. For all the anger at the tax cuts of 2017, child poverty rates reached their lowest numbers in decades two years later. The poverty rate among African American children was almost half of what it was in 1982. For Latino children, the poverty was roughly half of what it was in the mid-90′s. Poverty goes when prosperity goes up.

Julie: The Republican Party is in thrall to a failed game-show-host-cum-president, in tandem with his media Greek chorus. You don’t get that lucrative Fox News contract by compromising.

Q. He took a victory lap on the fight against Covid-19, pitched his infrastructure bill as a means to compete with China, and scorched major corporations for failing to pay their “fair share” of taxes. What struck you as effective?

Mike: Biden serves himself best when speaking in broad platitudes about the future and when patting the country on the back for the response to COVID. Republicans would be smart to seize on the myriad of tax increases here rather than getting bogged down in fights on wokeness and divisive social issues. Biden is going to double the capital gains tax for many, increase personal income taxes, and increase taxes on businesses by 33%. And apparently investing in the IRS counts as infrastructure because he is increasing their budget so they can audit more people. Great.

Julie: Let’s be clear: He isn’t raising a dime on anyone who makes less than $400,000 per year and he’s finally making businesses pay their fair share. Both those proposals are so broadly popular that even many Republicans support them.

Mike: Just remember, these taxes fall much more heavily on New Jersey and the northeast. New Jersey has far more families earning $400,000 than the national average and is in the top 5 in millionaires, too. And we are always 50th in return of our tax dollars we send to DC. This plan disproportionately punishes New Jersey taxpayers.

Julie: Pity the poor millionaire, whose burden is so brutal that his average net worth has risen drastically, even as income inequality has skyrocketed.

Q. Here in New Jersey, Essex County announced it would stop using its jails to house ICE detainees, yielding to pressure from progressives who feel it makes the county complicit in the harsh policies initiated under President Trump. Are Bergen and Hudson counties far behind? Does this help the detainees?

Mike: No, because they will simply be moved elsewhere.

Julie: It is the right thing to do morally. Other counties in New Jersey should follow suit.

Q. U-Haul has been telling us for years that New Jersey is losing population faster than any other state, which many Republicans blamed on high taxes. But the Census just reported that our population grew by a half million over the last decade, outpacing our neighbors. What gives?

Mike: New Jersey is so awesome that we overcome our high tax burden. We have high-income jobs, beautiful beaches, great K-12 schools, wonderful universities like Princeton, Rutgers and so many others, proximity to New York and Philadelphia, culture, sports. You name it; we’ve got it. But let’s not get cocky. Our relative growth is not just because we’re great. Rural areas across America are dying, and we have few of those, but rural areas of New York and Pennsylvania have been crushed. And being better than Connecticut is nothing to celebrate. They are the ghost of Christmas Future for New Jersey. Ten years of bad Democratic governors and high taxes have made CT’s growth the worst in the region, the worst in New England and the worst on the East Coast.

Julie: Can we please do a shout-out to the Legislature, which had the prescience to move redistricting back two years so that all these new residents, many of whom are people of color, have their voices heard for the following eight years?

Mike: No, we can’t cheer for a power grab for the status quo.

Julie: It’s the opposite of a power grab. It’s ensuring that these residents are not disenfranchised for a decade. If Republicans want to win, they should start competing for their hearts and minds, rather than preventing them from being counted.

Q. Finally, Rep. Josh Gottheimer is threatening to vote against Biden’s infrastructure bill unless the $10,000 cap on deductions for state and local taxes is lifted. But in a rash of tax proposals released Wednesday, Biden made no concession. How’s this going to play out? Raise the cap to $15,000 perhaps, to spare more of the middle-class?

Mike: Gottheimer is right. Biden plays class warfare on taxes, but that could hurt Democratic members in New Jersey. Three of the wealthiest 15 congressional districts in America are represented by Democrats in North Jersey. Reps. Gottheimer, Sherrill and Kim are being asked by Biden to raise taxes on many of their constituents, so they really need to fight for the return of the SALT deduction, or it will jeopardize their re-elections.

Julie: Go, Rep. Gottheimer! I’m cheering you on every step of the way. The average NJ property tax bull is nearly $10,000 per year. Capping the deduction at $15,000 won’t scratch the surface for many New Jerseyans, who have watched their tax burden go up thanks to Trump’s desire to harm Democratic states.

Mike: Reinstating the SALT deduction should be a place of bipartisan agreement. Democrats who represent high-tax states like NJ, NY, MD, MA, IL and CA should be united in repealing this onerous tax increase.

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A note to readers: DuHaime and Roginsky are both deeply engaged in politics and commercial advocacy in New Jersey, so both have connections to many players we discuss in this column. Given that, we will not normally disclose each specific connection, trusting that readers understand they are not impartial observers. DuHaime, a principal at Mercury Public Affairs, was chief political advisor to former Gov. Chris Christie, and has worked for Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and President George W. Bush. Roginsky, a principal of Optimus Communications, has served as senior campaign advisor to Cory Booker, Frank Lautenberg and Phil Murphy. We will disclose specific connections only when readers might otherwise be misled.