NBN Online for the week of November 7, 2005

Tax Reform Panel Declares Open Season on Home Owners

A presidential commission report proposing a radical overhaul of the nation’s tax code was blasted by NAHB as “the biggest tax hike for home owners ever proposed” after it was presented on Nov. 1 to Treasury Secretary John Snow.

Developed by the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform over the past 10 months, the tax overhaul would collapse six income brackets into four, eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax and replace the popular mortgage interest deduction with a considerably more limited 15% tax credit. Also gone would be deductions for state and local taxes and interest deductions for home equity loans and second homes.

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Lumber Prices Provided by Random Lengths

House Moves to Block Abuse of Eminent Domain Powers

Blocking states from taking advantage of the Kelo ruling that was recently handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court, the House of Representatives has overwhelmingly and with bipartisan support approved legislation intended to protect private property owners from the government’s excessive use of their powers of eminent domain.

Widely criticized by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, the court ruling upheld a jurisdiction's ability to take non-blighted property from private owners to accommodate new private development.

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