On April 15th, do you feel like it's the 4th of July? Then, you might be a liberal. Liberals have said for years that paying taxes is one of the highest forms of patriotism -- thus, the higher the taxes you pay, the more patriotic you are. In August 2012, Barack Obama said, "Instead of the middle class paying more, we should ask the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more, a modest amount, so that we can reduce our deficit and still make investments in things like education that help our economy grow,” he said. “You know, here's the thing -- there are a lot of well-to-do Americans, patriotic Americans, who understand this and are willing to do the right thing.”

But the former President was merely echoing a similar sentiment that former Vice President Joe Biden said even before the 2008 election. Billionaire Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, got in on the taxes-are-patriotic theme on CNN when he was shilling for his preferred candidate Hillary Clinton. "After military service, the most patriotic thing you can do as a wealthy person is pay your taxes," he said.  "Because that keeps the roads paid, the military paid and kids going to school, and he [Trump] obviously doesn't understand the concept." He said this without even laughing:

Well, good news, Barack, Joe, and Mark! You and all your other wealthy liberal friends might get your chance to really show your patriotism! Glenn Reynolds writes in USA Today that President Trump is going to call your bluff:

Trump’s new tax plan would hit blue states hardest, by eliminating the federal deductibility of state income and property taxes. . . . That’s going to make it harder for blue states to maintain the high tax rates they’ve traditionally levied.States should be able to set their own levels of taxing and spending, but I see no reason why a Walmart cashier in Tennessee (which has no state income tax and low property taxes) should be subsidizing a hedge fund mogul in New York or a studio executive in Hollywood. It’s fine if blue states want to have higher state and local tax rates, as they do, but they shouldn’t be encouraged to do so by federal tax giveaways. And it’s the urban, coastal areas that have done best over the past 25 years, so it seems time for them to pay their fair share now.

Right now, if you pay state property or income taxes, you can deduct them against your federal income taxes. In effect, it means that if you’re in a high federal bracket, your state taxes may be offset by that federal deduction to the tune of 40% or more.

I'm loathe to be happy about any sort of tax increase, with the incompetent federal bureaucracy still raging no matter who sits in the Oval Office. However, it'll be fun to sit back and wait for the inevitable liberal complaining that will happen when they realize they have to write bigger and bigger checks...  all because of President Trump's new policies.

Getting liberals to hate taxes... Is there anything Trump can't do?

Photo Credit: Keith Allison at Flickr

h/t Instapundit