"Lifted" from State Senator Tom Harman’s latest e-newsletter:
A Loophole by any other name is still the same
After years of reckless spending and special-interest pandering, the liberal majority must now face their comeuppance in the form of a massive budget deficit. So they turn their focus to closing "loopholes."
But there’s just one problem: The folks up in Sacramento have a very different notion of what constitutes a "loophole" than do the rest of us.
The biggest "loophole" in California, according to state Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill and a panel of experts who met last week to discuss ways to bring in more money is … the home-mortgage interest deduction.
Yes, that home-mortgage interest deduction. The one that makes the cost of living bearable for every condo-, bungalow-, or tract-dwelling family in Orange County.
For many of us, the home-mortgage interest deduction is what makes Southern California homeownership affordable at all. But to the savvy minds in Sacramento, it’s a giveaway – a crack in the system that you’ve been allowed to slip through for too long.
And closing that "loophole" would bring in almost $5 billion to Sacramento’s coffers, which might go a long way toward fixing that self-inflicted budget deficit, which continues to grow $600 million a month.
Sure, it might also drive the middle class clear out of the state, but that doesn’t seem to bother the liberal majority in control They’re more interested in balancing their books, not yours.
Some of the other "loopholes" are less controversial, but still problematic.
One suggestion is to eliminate business-tax credits for research and development – a $919 million savings, but at the potential cost of driving away the very jobs California most desperately needs. Another is to scrap enterprise zones, which cost taxpayers $454 million, but which many argue have done wonders to revitalize poorer communities.
Eliminating a long-standing tax deduction or credit is nothing less than a tax hike for the person or business that ends up paying a higher tax bill thus continuing to drive more families and businesses out of the state in record numbers.
My colleagues across the aisle should at least be honest. They’re not seeking to close loopholes for a few, but to raise taxes on us all.
March 6th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Only the young and dumb write articles about potential loopholes.
There is no such thing as a tax loophole. Tax deductions have been with us since time began.
I find the Liberals dispicable twisting and turning in the wind to find a way to further increase governmet power over Californians.
Never trust government on any level; government is incompetent.
There is no free lunch doled out by liberals or government so get over it!!!