The Dark Knight — A Congressman Votes Against the Interests of His Constituents

As multiple fires burned out of control throughout Southern California, including the Rye Fire in Santa Clarita, Congressman Steve Knight used his Twitter feed to provide his constituents with vital information. However, the help needed by the victims of these disasters cannot be delivered on social media, they will need their governments to provide them with an actual safety net. Unfortunately, the tax bill voted on by Knight last month eliminates one way that this assistance is already provided as it “would phase out the ability to deduct personal casualty losses from wildfires and earthquakes…but keep the deduction for damage from hurricanes and floods like those in Florida and Texas this year.” Knight’s “yes” vote helped to pass the bill.

The elimination of the ability to deduct losses from wildfires and earthquakes was not the only way the Republican tax bill would harm Californians. Unlike 39 other states who receive more from the federal government than they pay in taxes, California only “receives $0.99 in federal expenditures per dollar of taxes paid”. The bill passed by the House would make this worse by eliminating the “deductions for state and local income taxes”. It would also cap property tax deductions at $10,000 a year and cut the mortgage interest deduction cap in half. While these provisions…