Tax reform gone awry

Re “Homeowner tax breaks are

breaking the budget,” Current, Oct. 30

Isn’t it amazing that President Bush’s tax reform panel has decided that tax benefits to the average American are the problem with the budget deficit? Apparently it’s not the huge inheritance and capital gains tax reductions, taxes most Americans will never pay. Nor is it the largesse of corporate welfare, or even the expense of the Iraq fraud. Little did we know that it was the fault of all those homeowners aspiring to the American dream, as well as those struggling to pay health insurance or provide some little extra for their retirement. Perhaps the panel would like to consider an alternative idea: Repeal the inheritance and capital gains tax reductions, cut corporate welfare programs to the bone and use that to fix the budget deficit.

TONY SHEARD

Culver City

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The budget surplus inherited by the Bush administration was broken long ago by the untold billions of dollars we are spending on an unjustified war. Maya MacGuineas’ attitude is: Let the homeowner take the brunt of helping to fix the budget deficit. The only real surprise here is that the administration didn’t ignore the budget deficit; it just looked around for a fall guy, who happens to be the homeowner.

CATHY DOWLING

Spring Valley

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One of the outcomes of the tax code “reform” that will be recommended by the president’s tax reform panel, in which deductions for state and local taxes and home mortgages are eliminated, will be a very substantial penalty for residents and businesses in the blue states. Whether intended or not, this will be the result in states such as California, where state income taxes and property values are high.

L.J. LINDSEY

La Canada Flintridge