Tax Increases to Lower the Deficit
The Clinton Administration is expressing justifiable alarm at the trajectory of the national deficit. In your National Perspective (Feb. 4) new Education Secretary Richard W. Riley adds his voice of frustration: “I come in here with all the spirit of excitement to try to get education rolling, and it looks like it would be an enormous accomplishment to get enough money to break even.”
When looking for budget controls, why not begin with elimination of the interest deduction for a mortgage on a second home? This is a benefit for only the most fortunate (wealthy) Americans and should never have become law in the first place.
Is this deduction a “sacred cow” because it would hit the pocketbooks of so many politicians if it were eliminated?
SHIRLEY E. ROTH
Fountain Valley
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