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Article snippet: ALBANY — The five House Republicans have heard the calls for their heads, the references to them being traitors, hypocrites and worse for supporting a tax plan backed by their party, but harmful to the states they represent. Not content to merely defend their votes, the five representatives from New York and New Jersey have begun a counteroffensive, seeking to turn the tables and blame state leaders for helping create high-tax environments. “The problem is not the federal tax policy,” said Representative Tom Reed, a Republican who represents the struggling Southern Tier of New York, and voted yes on the House version of the bill in November. “The root cause of the entire issue is the tax-and-spend culture out of Albany that has created that burden on New Yorkers.” Like many of his Republican colleagues, Mr. Reed tied the state’s taxes to an array of ills, including slow economic growth and an exodus from chronically job-challenged regions upstate, including his own district. “They just can’t afford it anymore,” he said of those who moved from New York. Mr. Reed is among a handful of New York Republicans targeted by Democratic leaders as being vulnerable in next year’s midterm elections; earlier this year, Gov. Andrew M, Cuomo appeared with the House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, to launch a campaign to unseat the Republicans, who he said were “violating their oath of office to represent the interest of the people of the State of New York.” The tax plan does harm... Link to the full article to read more