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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, January 18, 1992                   TAG: 9201200205
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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BLAME CONGRESS FOR TAX DISINCENTIVES

AS A COMMERCIAL real-estate broker, I have seen first-hand the evidence supporting the arguments presented by William Corbitt Jr. (letter, Jan. 6).

With the removal of long-held tax adjustments in the treatment of investment income, most revenue sources shifted their investments to other areas, leaving commercial developers without funding and all manner of construction trades without work. To every family where someone lost a job, a business or life savings, the reality of the recession is pretty obvious.

Congress, not the president, is responsible for the fiscal irresponsibility of unbalanced budgets and tax disincentives. Reducing the capital-gains rate to 15 percent and allowing passive losses to offset other income are necessary incentives to motivate investment in basic hard goods.

I urge citizens now to join Mr. Corbitt in urging our politicians and candidates to address the needs of both commercial and residential users for sustained development of affordable housing that is energy-efficient and cost-effective. Money spent on new construction is not just an expense; it's an investment in our future. BILL MODICA ROANOKE

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