By: Mary O'Keeffe

Mary O'Keeffe 3 months, 2 weeks ago on Wordpress

Thanks for the clarification, Kelly. There was absolutely no way President Reagan and Congress could have totally and abruptly eliminated the mortgage interest deduction in 1986.

A sudden and total end to the mortgage interest deduction would have been a disaster for many families who had recently bought homes in the early 1980s, because interest rates were so high back then, thanks to inflation . I still remember the first time my husband and I considered buying a house, in 1981. I called a few local banks to inquire about mortgage rates. Fixed rate mortgages were running as high as 18%. Shortly afterwards, there was an explosion of teaser one-year adjustables, but even they were in the low to mid teens. I never thought I’d lived to see the day when fixed rate mortgages would fall back to the levels we’ve seen in recent years!

Politically, especially given the strength and power of the real estate/construction industry, I do not think Reagan could have accomplished as much as he did without agreeing to preserve the tax breaks for homeowners. It’s timely to reflect on that industry’s power and influence as we look at the current debate over the extension of the temporary tax credit for home purchases. ... See all content Hide content

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Mary O'Keeffe 3 months, 2 weeks ago on Wordpress

One more really important tax reform under Reagan: indexing the tax code for inflation! We had double-digit inflation in the early 1980s, and people were getting pushed into higher and higher brackets, even when their income was barely keeping up with inflation—until finally the tax code got indexed!

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Kay 3 months, 2 weeks ago on Wordpress

I was in D.C., working for a Congressman who was on Ways & Means, when the 1986 code changes were made. I’ve always thought, based on the talk back then, that the official name was “The Historic Tax Act of 1986.”

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Laurie 3 months, 2 weeks ago on Wordpress

Love the picture! And really love your discussion on having children and a career. It’s a hard question with different answers for different people obviously, but you can certainly make it work if you try hard. My three kiddos are similar ages to yours I think (all under and it was super hard working a full-time legal assistant position with my kids, and I know the lawyers in our office found it hard, as there was often travel involved. Being my own boss has made it easier, at least most of the time! ... See all content Hide content

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Marie 3 months, 2 weeks ago on Wordpress

Glad to see your kiddos so we can put faces to the various meltdowns, breaking into song, and “excited utterances.” Beautiful photo, taxgirl.

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taxgirl 3 months, 2 weeks ago on Twitter

More Sunday mailbag: http://bit.ly/1tdJSf

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