Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Defeat Proposal to Eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax
The following is the text of a fax I sent to my Senators and Congressional Represenative.
I am writing to urge you to combat the changes to the federal tax code proposed by the President’s tax-reform panel. Among the many recommendations made there are two that are particularly alarming for residents of the industrialized urban “blue” states. “The panel recommended lowering the mortgage-interest cap, which is the amount of a loan on which homeowners would receive a tax break for interest paid, from $1 million to the average regional housing price in the range of $227,000 to $412,000. – CNN 11/1/05”. You know that in major cities and nearly anywhere in Massachusetts one cannot lay hands on a one bedroom condo for $227,000 let alone a home large enough for a family. The panel has also recommended that taxpayers no longer be allowed to deduct the state and local taxes they pay on wage income, investment income and property from their federal income taxes. This is the set of taxes that provide states and municipalities with the funds to fill the egregious gaps within and between the programs provided by the federal government. These two points are a clear attack on the Democratic base. Even with the deductions for our own local and state taxes the “blue states” provide the federal government with more funds than we consume while the “red states” this solution is meant to champion consume far more federal tax dollars than they generate. If this move succeeds not only will Massachusetts and its allied states be economically penalized, but by diminishing the amount of federal tax revenue the road is paved for still more cuts in "discretionary spending" in the future. The right wing knows that the tide is turning against them. They know that the next election will not go well. This is both political maneuvering of the most mean-spirited kind as well as a desperate attempt to undermine any future Democratic majority or president’s attempts to rectify the damage done and bring our nation forward into a more compassionate and sane future. Please see that it is stopped.
I am writing to urge you to combat the changes to the federal tax code proposed by the President’s tax-reform panel. Among the many recommendations made there are two that are particularly alarming for residents of the industrialized urban “blue” states. “The panel recommended lowering the mortgage-interest cap, which is the amount of a loan on which homeowners would receive a tax break for interest paid, from $1 million to the average regional housing price in the range of $227,000 to $412,000. – CNN 11/1/05”. You know that in major cities and nearly anywhere in Massachusetts one cannot lay hands on a one bedroom condo for $227,000 let alone a home large enough for a family. The panel has also recommended that taxpayers no longer be allowed to deduct the state and local taxes they pay on wage income, investment income and property from their federal income taxes. This is the set of taxes that provide states and municipalities with the funds to fill the egregious gaps within and between the programs provided by the federal government. These two points are a clear attack on the Democratic base. Even with the deductions for our own local and state taxes the “blue states” provide the federal government with more funds than we consume while the “red states” this solution is meant to champion consume far more federal tax dollars than they generate. If this move succeeds not only will Massachusetts and its allied states be economically penalized, but by diminishing the amount of federal tax revenue the road is paved for still more cuts in "discretionary spending" in the future. The right wing knows that the tide is turning against them. They know that the next election will not go well. This is both political maneuvering of the most mean-spirited kind as well as a desperate attempt to undermine any future Democratic majority or president’s attempts to rectify the damage done and bring our nation forward into a more compassionate and sane future. Please see that it is stopped.
