Letters
Homeownership has been and always will be the foundation of opportunity for Americans across our great nation. It provides wealth and opportunity and sustains communities where families live, work, and contribute to society.
Despite these undeniable benefits, Congress has passed legislation that would punish homeowners, eliminate the financial benefits for homebuyers and leave hundreds of thousands of people across California much worse off than they are today. If the goal of tax reform is to help middle class Americans keep more of their hard-earned money, this proposal fails miserably.
Tax reform shouldn’t hurt Californians, but the House of Representatives proposal does, in a big way. It eliminates important incentives that help first-time homebuyers by capping the mortgage interest deduction, limiting property tax deductibility, and changing capital gains exemptions. From the Oregon border south to San Diego, working Californians take a beating.
The average California house costs two-and-a-half times the national average, and housing supply projections show the state will be nearly three million houses short by 2020. Only 32 percent of California families are able to purchase a median priced home.
With homeownership already a stretch, or out of reach altogether for so many Californians, now is NOT the time to make owning a home more difficult.
The California Association of Realtors represents nearly 200,000 men and women who work to help people achieve the American Dream of homeownership.
We will fight to protect policies that help people build wealth so that they can send their children to college, pay for health insurance or start a small business.
Homeownership does all these things, and more. It gives people a sense of community, helps them plant roots and makes for a stronger and more prosperous society. Taking these opportunities away ignores the values of our nation and puts our economic future at risk.
The objectives of the House tax plan may be well intended, but put at risk one of the cornerstones of American society.
Homeowners, families hoping to someday buy their first home, small business owners and Realtors must call their senators to urge them to reject this misguided proposal and find a compromise solution with Congress.
Bobby Dutcher is president of the Lake County Association of Realtors.
Despite these undeniable benefits, Congress has passed legislation that would punish homeowners, eliminate the financial benefits for homebuyers and leave hundreds of thousands of people across California much worse off than they are today. If the goal of tax reform is to help middle class Americans keep more of their hard-earned money, this proposal fails miserably.
Tax reform shouldn’t hurt Californians, but the House of Representatives proposal does, in a big way. It eliminates important incentives that help first-time homebuyers by capping the mortgage interest deduction, limiting property tax deductibility, and changing capital gains exemptions. From the Oregon border south to San Diego, working Californians take a beating.
The average California house costs two-and-a-half times the national average, and housing supply projections show the state will be nearly three million houses short by 2020. Only 32 percent of California families are able to purchase a median priced home.
With homeownership already a stretch, or out of reach altogether for so many Californians, now is NOT the time to make owning a home more difficult.
The California Association of Realtors represents nearly 200,000 men and women who work to help people achieve the American Dream of homeownership.
We will fight to protect policies that help people build wealth so that they can send their children to college, pay for health insurance or start a small business.
Homeownership does all these things, and more. It gives people a sense of community, helps them plant roots and makes for a stronger and more prosperous society. Taking these opportunities away ignores the values of our nation and puts our economic future at risk.
The objectives of the House tax plan may be well intended, but put at risk one of the cornerstones of American society.
Homeowners, families hoping to someday buy their first home, small business owners and Realtors must call their senators to urge them to reject this misguided proposal and find a compromise solution with Congress.
Bobby Dutcher is president of the Lake County Association of Realtors.
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- Written by: Bobby Dutcher
I have a vision, only it's not just my vision. It is a vision shared by millions of Americans, and even more millions worldwide.
It is a vision of a better future, a future with no more wars-for-profit or regime change. A future where corporations and the very wealthy do not run politics, and cannot buy their way out of legal troubles with bribery or high priced attorneys.
A future where the common person and the very wealthy are subject to the same rule of law and justice as everyone else – where no one gets off lightly for their crimes just because of their wealth; and no one faces stricter punishments or scrutiny by the law because of their skin color.
A future in which children that want to go to college can go to college, and without being gouged by student loans. I’m talking about a future where no one ever decides not to go to the doctor or go to a hospital because they can’t afford the bill. And the entire country is running on 100-percent renewable energy.
Establishment politicians from both sides of the two-party duopoly will tell you that these things are impossible, but we find more and more that the politicians that are telling us these things are impossible are the same people that are blocking our progress.
The same officials that will tell you that only people with military experience are qualified for office, the implication being that they won’t send your kids off to war lightly, are the very people voting again and again to go to war over oil pipelines and profits, or to increase the funding for said wars.
But we, the people, are realizing that both “major parties” are really two wings of the same party, with different variations of the same failed policies.
And that is why I have joined with the Progressive Movement, to take back our government from moneyed interests and bring power back to the people. It was Malcolm X who said, “You put them first and they put you last, cause you’re a chump.”
Our elected officials no longer care about the will of the people, only corporate money. After all, if it were up to the people, there would be no more wars. Medicine would be socialized, as would education.
Wall Street executives who ended up forcing people out of their homes all across the country wouldn’t get off with a fine, if it were up to the people. These people would face charges, and if found guilty, they would serve time, and so would politicians that protected them from prosecution.
Establishment politicians will tell you that this is all impossible, but that’s not true either. That’s their donors’ money speaking.
Voting out establishment politicians and replacing them with progressives is not only possible, I believe it is the future. America has simply become far too corporatized, from politics to education to medicine to the foods we eat. This cannot be allowed to persist.
And that is why I’ve decided to run for the Fifth Congressional District seat. It is time to vote out candidates that refuse to turn away from corporate money.
We cannot allow our elected officials to place us behind insurance companies or the alcohol lobby, when it comes to making important decisions about tax rates or the laws that govern us anymore.
Enough is enough! I hope I can count on your endorsement and your vote.
Jason Kishineff lives in American Canyon, Calif.
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- Written by: Jason Kishineff
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