Maybe the Alabama millionaire was actually paying less in federal tax than the NYC guy. Is the Alabama guy "passing" his tax burden onto other Americans because he has a big mortgage, and/or because he gives to charity?
I suppose you could look at it that way. But then treat all the inequities in the same way.
The bottom line is that the rules are the same for everybody. If the Alabama guy wanted to take advantage of the NYC SALT deduction, he could have moved to NYC. If the NYC guy wanted to take advantage of the 501(c)(3) deductions, he could have donated more to his church.
Now the rules have changed. I suppose that's fine, but doing so almost without any warning, and without any clear policy reason, is a little bit of bullshit. Lot's of Jersey people I know in that upper middle class income level are getting socked. They weren't told this was coming when they bought their house, started their jobs, and had their kids.
In any event, fair or not, the NYC millionaire was not passing his tax burden to other people. He was paying more tax, but it was split between the feds and the states differently.