THE HOUSE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS HAS A FRAGILE MAJORITY.

What was I just saying about the rent-seekers and oligarchs with donkey ears?  "Democratic moderates are holding climate policy hostage to get a tax cut for the rich."  Usually, the point of putting as many projects into an omnibus bill as possible is to secure the necessary votes.  Arnie van Damm told Jack Ryan as much.  Here's where the true believers get off the train, though.  Note what "tax cut for the rich" is at stake here.

The state and local tax (SALT) deduction was capped at $10,000 as part of the 2017 Republican tax-cut legislation, a change that prompted outcry from centrist blue-state House Democrats who represent the higher-income, higher-tax areas that were disproportionately impacted by the limit. The House voted to suspend the cap in 2019—a move opposed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and other prominent progressives—but the effort died in the then-Republican Senate.

There is nothing like the prospect of losing your seat in two years, either by redistricting or by facing a primary challenge from a more leftist Democrat, to concentrate the mind.

In a joint statement late Tuesday afternoon, Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), and Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.) declared that they "will not accept any changes to the tax code that do not restore the SALT deduction and put fairness back into the system."

"We say, 'No SALT, no deal,'" the lawmakers said. "The GOP passed an unfair cap of $10,000 on state and local tax (SALT) deductions to pay for their 2017 tax giveaway. Due to the GOP cap, our home states of New York and New Jersey have been crushed and residents have been leaving for other states."

The trio of House Democrats issued their demand just 24 hours ahead of President Joe Biden's expected release of a $2.25 trillion infrastructure and climate package that the president is aiming to finance by hiking taxes on the wealthy and corporations. While Biden is pushing to partially reverse some elements of the 2017 GOP tax law—including its cut to the corporate tax rate—the initial package is not expected to call for repeal of the SALT cap.

Axios reported earlier this week that Gottheimer and other centrist Democrats are pushing back against some of the proposed tax increases while simultaneously demanding repeal of the SALT cap as a necessary component of the forthcoming package.

Pass the popcorn, it's going to be fun to see these guys attempting to tax that guy behind the tree, when that guy is behind a tree in Texas or Florida.