I don’t get why it’s stupid. His taxes went up, so he has less disposable income, so he feels less generous. Seems fair.
I don’t understand why tipping seems to be perceived as an obligation in the US. I’m certainly not obliged to take on the burden of making up for someone’s poor wages. It’s just not my responsibility. I go to a restaurant and pay what I’m charged, I’m certainly not going to just give away money on top of that. So acting like this guy is in the wrong for not doing any more something he wasn’t ever obliged to baffles me.