State Dem Chair: Trump Would Cost Local Property Owners if He Returns to Office

By Michael Gold

Westchester and Putnam residents, and everybody in New York State, will suffer financially if Donald Trump is re-elected President in November, predicted Jay Jacobs, chair of the New York State Democratic Party, in an interview with me late last month.

Jacobs discussed the economic impact of Trump’s promised tariffs on everyone’s pocketbooks.

“It’s going to cost people a lot of money. Inflation will be back under Trump because of what he says he’s going to do,” Jacobs said. “He’s going to put these huge tariffs on imports. Companies that want to bring goods into the U.S., they don’t tell the Chinese government to pay the bill. They add it to the price of goods. Everything is going to see an increase in price.”

The tariffs are “really a national sales tax,” Jacobs said.

As far as Trump’s recent promise to reverse the $10,000 cap on deducting state and local taxes (SALT) in his 2017 tax bill, Jacobs said, “Trump punished blue states with his tax code. The guy who virtually eliminated SALT says he will fix it. Here’s a guy who’s responsible for the SALT cap claiming to be the hero. He stabs you in the back, then says, ‘I’ll stitch you back up.’ He says a lot of things that don’t make sense or won’t come true. Kamala Harris will bring it (the SALT deduction) back.”

Trump’s SALT cap costs the average Long Island property owner about $5,500 a year, Jacobs said. That works out to more than $38,000 over the seven years the law has been in place. Jacobs said he imagined that Westchester and Putnam residents have experienced a similar negative impact on their finances.

Trump’s plan to deport undocumented immigrants will also hurt the New York economy, Jacobs predicted, because it will take workers away from businesses that need them, doing jobs that a lot of Americans aren’t willing to do.

“Illegal immigration has been a problem for decades. The Biden Administration could have handled it better,” Jacobs said.

Biden was ready to sign Republican Sen. James Lankford’s (R-Oklahoma) immigration bill earlier this year, which would have addressed many of the issues concerning the border, including fentanyl detection equipment, he explained.

“There were a lot of really good things in that bill. It would have fixed a lot of problems,” Jacobs stated. “The Republicans got 90 percent of what they wanted. Trump told the Republicans (in Congress) to can it. The reason? He didn’t want to solve the problem before the election. You can’t get much more self-serving than that.”

In contrast, if Harris is elected, “she will get the immigration bill passed,” the state chair explained.

Focusing on the local congressional contest, between Rep. Mike Lawler and Democratic challenger Mondaire Jones, Jacobs said, “That’s a tough race. Lawler portrays himself as a great moderate. That’s not who he is. Look at his votes.”

For instance, Lawler voted to elect “the most reactionary, extreme speaker in the history of the country (Mike Johnson).” Johnson tried to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential election and voted against certifying Biden’s win.

Jacobs praised Jones’ outlook, saying, “He listens. He’s not an ideologue. He votes with moderate factions. He’s got a good head on his shoulders.”

In contrast to the Republican ticket, Jacobs said a President Harris would “be focused on affordability,” from prescription drugs to housing.

Reinforcing Vice President Harris’ promise to build three million new homes across the country, Gov. Hochul is working to construct more housing, Jacobs said. “Hochul has a plan to build more housing. She’s listened to voters. It’s going to take time.”

The governor has proposed building 800,000 new homes in the state by 2030. Her New York Housing Compact “will encourage growth by removing barriers to housing production, incentivizing new construction and setting local housing targets across every New York community,” the governor’s website states.

Jacobs highlighted the economic growth the Biden Administration is working on generating in the state, from the CHIPS Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, which has set off an infrastructure boom. For instance, the chip manufacturer Micron plans to build a plant in the Syracuse area, a deal made possible with a $6 billion grant from the Biden Administration.

“We’re bringing chip manufacturing to New York State. Improving the upstate economy will add to our tax revenues,” Jacobs said. “Syracuse is benefiting.”

Other semiconductor projects are planned in Utica and Genesee County.

The state Democratic chair also praised President Biden’s economy.

“He pumped an additional $1.9 trillion into the economy. It’s resulted in the U.S. having the strongest economic growth in the world.”

Jacobs said the country would suffer if Trump returns to office.

“He’s pitting one group of people against other groups. It’s a fantasy that Trump doesn’t mean what he says. He’ll do what he says.”

Michael Gold has had articles published in the New York Daily News, the Albany Times Union, and other newspapers, and The Hardy Society Journal, a British literary publication.