美国国家公共电台 NPR GOP Tax Law Sparks Confusion And Outcry In Blue States As N.Y. Threatens Lawsuit

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Just before the new year, many people in high-tax states scrambled¹ to prepay their state and local taxes. The idea was to pay what they owe for the upcoming year ahead of the new tax law that limits the amount that they could deduct². Local governments were overwhelmed. And as NPR's Chris Arnold reports, there's still confusion.

CHRIS ARNOLD, BYLINE³: The week after Christmas is usually a short and slow one for town officials in New Paltz, N.Y., but not this time. Daniel Torres is the deputy town supervisor⁴.

DANIEL TORRES: When we opened town hall on Wednesday, we had almost a hundred voicemails from people inquiring about how they could prepay their taxes.

ARNOLD: And the phone kept ringing. People were showing up. Torres says the town clerk's office only has a few people working in it.

TORRES: The clerk's office was so overrun, after a certain while, we couldn't even pick up the phones anymore.

ARNOLD: And there was a lot of confusion. The governor had said that people could prepay their taxes, but the IRS issued a statement saying that would only work if your taxes had already been assessed. Torres says, in New Paltz, the assessments⁶ had been done, but they were still at the printing facility in another town, and they hadn't been mailed out. So he and another town official scrambled over to the printing company.

TORRES: It was 14 boxes that we threw in the back of a town car. It's actually an old police car, to be honest. And, you know, we drove them down. And by the time we did them, there was already hundreds of phone calls that had come in inquiring about it.

ARNOLD: The reason that people want to prepay so badly is that it will save them money on next year's taxes. The tax act caps deductions⁷ for state and local taxes at $10,000. In states with higher tax rates like New Jersey⁸, California and New York, even many middle-class and upper-middle-class people pay more than that $10,000. And those states also happen to vote more often for Democrats⁹. This week in his State of the State address, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the Republican-designed tax act is robbing blue states to pay for tax cuts for red states and corporations.

(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)

ANDREW CUOMO: It is crass¹⁰. It is ugly. It is divisive. It is partisan¹¹ legislating¹². It is an economic civil war. And make no mistake. They are aiming to hurt us.

ARNOLD: Cuomo vowed¹³ to sue the federal government, calling the tax act unconstitutional. Republicans, though, say it's not their tax act that's hurting people. It's that state and local taxes are too high in states like New York, New Jersey and California. Meanwhile, many people who tried to prepay their taxes aren't sure if the IRS will recognize the move. Amanda Carew lives in Bloomingdale, Ill. Her husband, who works on a grounds crew at a federal laboratory, went down to the assessor's office last week to prepay their property taxes.

AMANDA CAREW: He bundled up my son. They drove down there. They got there. And there was about 700 people in line.

ARNOLD: But Carew says since the town only had a preliminary tax assessment⁵, she's not sure whether the IRS will be OK with them prepaying. The family actually just moved into a smaller house to live in a town with a better school district. They're paying more taxes there. But because they can't deduct all of them, Carew estimates that she and her husband will be paying about $750 more in taxes under the new rules.

CAREW: And knowing that we're going to be punished, to an extent, for picking a good school district - it feels incredibly unfair.

ARNOLD: Just how many Americans end up thinking the tax bill is unfair will undoubtedly¹⁴ play a big role in the midterm elections. Chris Arnold, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR'S "THE VOICELESS")

1 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 deduct   

vt.扣除，减去

参考例句：

• You can deduct the twenty - five cents out of my allowance.你可在我的零用钱里扣去二角五分钱。
• On condition of your signing this contract,I will deduct a percentage.如果你在这份合同上签字，我就会给你减免一个百分比。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

5 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

6 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

7 deductions   

扣除( deduction的名词复数 )； 结论； 扣除的量； 推演

参考例句：

• Many of the older officers trusted agents sightings more than cryptanalysts'deductions. 许多年纪比较大的军官往往相信特务的发现，而不怎么相信密码分析员的推断。
• You know how you rush at things,jump to conclusions without proper deductions. 你知道你处理问题是多么仓促，毫无合适的演绎就仓促下结论。

8 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

9 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 crass   

adj.愚钝的，粗糙的；彻底的

参考例句：

• The government has behaved with crass insensitivity.该政府行事愚蠢而且麻木不仁。
• I didn't want any part of this silly reception,It was all so crass.我完全不想参加这个无聊的欢迎会，它实在太糟糕了。

11 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

12 legislating   

v.立法，制定法律( legislate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Why are the senators sitting there without legislating? 为什么那些议员们做在那里不立法？ 来自互联网
• From legislating and protecting peasant's interests organizationally. " 从立法和组织上保护农民利益。 来自互联网

13 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

14 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。