MORRIS COUNTY — Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) joined a press conference to highlight the critical importance of tax relief for New Jersey families, including teachers and first responders, and urge the Senate to include an adequate fix to the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction cap in the Senate version of the reconciliation package.
Rep. Sherrill was joined at the press conference by the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Rep. Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), Rep. Tom Suozzi (NY-03), President of the American Federation of Teachers Randi Weingarten, and President of the International Association of Fire Fighters Edward Kelly.
Before the SALT deduction was capped in the 2017 tax bill, 54 percent of NJ-11 families took the deduction.
“It’s wonderful to be here with such a great group of colleagues and friends to talk about this critical deduction,” said Rep. Sherrill. “When we’re standing here today and we see our teachers here, when we see our firefighters here, we’re talking about the backbone of the organizations that got us through COVID. These are people that we really couldn’t have made it through the darkest days of the pandemic without. And to see that they’re getting kneecapped by the SALT cap is really devastating. Not only are our middle-class families paying the price, but our communities are paying the price – and they’re paying for it with the services we all rely on. That’s why we are calling on the Senate to ensure the SALT deduction is addressed in the final version of this bill.”
“We are here today to fight for tax cuts for the hard-working families we represent, like the firefighters, teachers, and first responders who support communities across the country and in Northern New Jersey. By reinstating the State and Local Tax deduction, we will be putting money right back into the pockets of hard-working Jersey families and families around the country,” said Rep. Gottheimer. “Now, I am again asking our Senate colleagues to keep moving forward, to include restoring SALT as part of their legislation.”
“New York State has one of the highest levels of union membership in the United States. The SALT cap caused union families to see a tax increase,” said Rep. Suozzi. “More importantly, the cap has accelerated a race to the bottom where wealthy taxpayers flee our state for lower tax jurisdictions that not only have low union membership but are openly hostile to unions. We must address this and ensure the Senate-passed version of the Build Back Better Agenda includes a SALT fix that we in the House can support.”
“In 2017, when Republicans were trying and failing to repeal the Affordable Care Act, they also silently raised taxes for hardworking middle-class families,” said Rep. Beatty. “By imposing a $10,000 SALT cap, small-minded politicians kneecapped middle-income families in the places where they were already struggling. It’s time to correct their mistake and reinstate the SALT deduction.”
“We’re fighting for the revival of SALT because working families need it. The first tax code in the USA had state & local tax deductions in 1913. Why? Because they knew then what we should know now: We have a federal system, services are developed by the states,” said Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers. “Let’s deliver for the middle class. This is a way of putting the incentive system back in place to invest in localities, in sewer systems, in fire systems, and in schools.”
“In 2018, the previous Administration signed into law the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which neither cut taxes nor created jobs. Despite the name of this law, it put enormous, unnecessary strain on cities and towns all across America, and it’s made it even harder for us as firefighters to do our jobs protecting the citizens. That financial strain has made funding levels unsafe. This critical funding is needed to ensure that firefighters and paramedics and teachers and police officers have the staffing, training, and equipment we need, not only to educate our kids, not only to police our streets, not only to fight the fires…but also to take care of the most vulnerable amongst us, our elderly, our children,” said Edward Kelly, General President of the International Association of Fire Fighters. “I call upon our members in the Senate to support this initiative, to support your firefighters, to support your teachers, support the children and the elderly and the people who make this world, our world, that we all took an oath to serve, better.”
I arrived with a small group of friends, and we were made to feel immediately at home. Our server/manager, Tau, could not have been more cordial or welcoming. Service was prompt, attentive, and efficient. Water, menus, and cutlery were quick to arrive (interestingly, Thai cutlery generally consists of a fork and large spoon. The spoon is held in the right hand and used in place of a knife, and the fork helps to arrange the food on the spoon before bringing it to the mouth. As all ingredients in the dishes come already cut up, there is no need for a knife -of course, you can always use chopsticks), and we began to ponder over many mouthwatering choices. The menu was extensive enough to accommodate everyone’s individual tastes, so we were off to a good start. This is a BYOB, so I brought along some Thai LEO beer which perfectly complimented my dishes.
Our group started off by sharing several appetizers; Thai Spring Rolls (paw pia tod), fried thin wrappers, filled with carrots, cabbage, and bean thread noodles, fried to golden perfection and served with a sweet and sour dipping sauce; Shumai, minced shrimp and ground chicken wrapped in wonton wrappers and steamed till soft and fluffy and served with soy vinaigrette; Curry Puffs, puff pastry filled with curried chicken, caramelized onions, diced potatoes and served with cucumber relish on the side; and Wings, fried marinated chicken wings coated with enough honey-sweet chili sauce to stimulate your taste buds.
I settled on the Crying Tiger เสือร้องไห้ (seua rong hai); grilled marinated beef steak (flank steak) served with Tamarind chili dipping sauce. The steak was cooked a perfect medium as ordered, and the presentation was beautiful, it was moist, juicy, and savory. The steak came on a bed of lettuce and shredded carrots, and the Jaew sauce (on the side) was a spicy, savory, tangy, aromatic, pungent sauce that really made the steak pop. The exquisite dish that I would gladly have again. Take note, Thai food, though known to be spicy does not have to be. There are plenty of sweet and salty alternatives. Your server can help you with your decisions if you are new to this cuisine. I personally like very spicy food, but I ordered my meal “spicy” since it was my first time at this restaurant. It certainly had a mild kick but next time I will be going with the “X-spicy.” This restaurant offers your meal with No Chile, Mild, Spicy, X Spicy, and Thai Spicy. Do not go with the Thai Spicy unless you know you can really manage fiery hot food.
Topping it all off, the house treated us to a Mango with Sticky Rice dessert. I love mango’s and I love sticky rice, so I do not think anything else needs to be said. I would say to someone not familiar that Thai food is like an exotic version of Chinese food. The two cuisines are similar in many ways. Give your palate a treat and give Thai a try, with its variety of dishes filled with thick noodles, fresh vegetables, chicken, lamb, goat, shrimp, and beef, all of which can be sweet, salty, spicy, or sour, I think you will be happy you did.
