Published: January 31, 2008
Op-Ed Contributor
Mortgage Interest Deduction Threatened
By Senator Tom Harman
California faces a $14.5 billion budget deficit because liberal politicians in Sacramento have spent too much for too long.
Instead of cutting wasteful spending in state government to pay down the deficit and balance the budget once and for all, Democrats want to punish you and every California homeowner by repealing the state home mortgage interest deduction! They think that this important tax savings, relied upon by millions of Californians, is a "tax loophole" that must be closed.
What would repealing the home mortgage interest deduction mean for you and your family?
increase your California State Income Tax by hundreds of dollars or more every year.
hurt first-time homebuyers, especially those struggling to scrape together enough money to buy their home.
add another burden to those homeowners who already have lost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars of equity in their homes in the current market.
Some legislators have gone even further by suggesting that Proposition 13, which limits how much the state can increase property tax bills every year, be repealed. Repealing or even amending Prop. 13 would be a disaster, leading to the loss of thousands of homes, millions of Californians seeing their home values drop further and billions of dollars in higher taxes. Enough is enough!
We need to stop the liberal politicians here in Sacramento from following through with their threat to take away the mortgage interest deduction and impose a $5.3 billion tax increase on you and every other California homeowner!
Senator Tom Harman serves in California's 35th District.
* The views of Opinion writers do not necessarily reflect the views of NewsBlaze
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