Keep Government Out of Home Equity

Re “Trouble at Home,” Opinion, May 19: Why it is that when a perceived inequity exists between the motives of the haves and the have-nots the answer is to punish the haves? David Friedman implies that using equity gained through property ownership is wrong “when the housing market is manipulated to support economic extravagance.” His answer: Create new regulatory guidelines that determine what are the “right motives” to qualify for the tax advantages of borrowing against real property. Can you say politically correct?

I would suggest that the majority of people refinance for paying off accumulated debt, sending a child to college, caring for a loved one or even buying a Ford Escort. Only when we stop living beyond our means at all economic levels will the need to enter into debt decrease, thereby reducing or minimizing the effects of a down economy. This is not a lesson for government to teach; it is for individuals to recognize their materialism and be content with what they have.

Michael Aspland

Oxnard