Tax Law Letter

[Larry Landwehr]

Dear Net Folk,

Here's the tax law letter.

It consists of two parts; the actual letter and a proposed mailing
list.

The mailing list consists of the names and addresses of members of
congress who are members of congressional tax law committees. It
also contains the names and addresses of some organizations that
are interested in the tax laws of this country.

The data to compile this list comes from two reference books:

Washington Information Directory 353
W276c

Who's Who In Congress 328.73
W62c

This mailing list is only a suggested starting point. The senators
and representatives of your individual state are also good
recipients. Any library should be able to furnish these.

The letter will be most effective if the salutation "Dear Member
of Congress" is modified and you sign your name at the bottom.

You may also want to consider mailing a copy to your local paper,
including it in a newsletter, posting it on other nets, sending it
to a magazine or any other place you can think of. The more people
and organizations who receive this letter, the more impact it will
have. If you do so, I'd appreciate being acknowledged as the
author.

Please note that this version of the letter is slightly different
from the preliminary one.

I would also like to thank the people who took the time to write
me to encourage the production of this letter. Their names are:

ti...@everest.tandem.com (Tim Hallock)
ID...@asuvm.inre.asu.edu (Shirley Woods)
j...@techops.cray.com (Jon S. Wood)
t...@cbnea.att.com (Aaron L Hoffmeyer)
jo...@rtfm.mlb.fl.us (John Blasik)
LU...@jetson.uh.edu (Kurt Lund)
TPP...@lims01.lerc.nasa.gov (Gary)
ste...@orl.mmc.com (Steve Gabrilowitz)
dmcm...@djm.cs.gmr.com (Don McMillan)
w...@hound.att.com (Walter F Mulligan)
smi...@dancer.cc.bellcore.com (David Gray)
bo...@hpsad.sad.hp.com (Bob Waltenspiel)
rutl...@camis.stanford.edu (Geoff Rutledge)
j...@zx11.cactus.org (Joe Senner)
akoi...@bbn.com (Alex Koifman)
c...@gizmo.lib.washington.edu (Cindy "Cyberpunk" Jenkins)
j...@nsc.nsc.com (Jerry Roe)

Ok, here's the letter:

_____________________cut_here___________________________

Dear Member of Congress,

All across this country, people, both men and women, are being hurt
by a discriminatory tax law. This law runs counter to the usual
guidelines of the IRS tax code and to the principles of fair play
and equal treatment for all. It was passed specifically to benefit
the members of a special interest group at the expense of other
members of our society. I refer to the tax law that gives the
dependent deduction of children of divorce to the custodial parent.

The tax laws are very clear that a son or daughter who provides for
an aged parent gets to claim that parent as a deduction if they
provide more than 50% of the money necessary for that person to
live on. The parent does not have to live with them.

On the other hand, a divorced parent who provides more than 50% of
the support of a son or daughter does not get a deduction if that
child does not live with them.

How is this fair? Why should the overriding consideration be the
place of residence of the dependent in one case, but not in the
other? It just doesn't make sense. It's unfair and illogical.

This law favors divorced mothers. This is true because in 90% of
all divorces, the mother becomes the custodial parent. This law
benefits mothers. As such, it is discriminatory on the basis of
sex.

A valid comparison can be made between this law and the literacy
tests that some states once required that you pass before you were
allowed to vote. Proponents of these tests maintained that there
was no racial bias inherent in these tests. Anyone who could pass
them could vote.

The Supreme Court ruled that these tests were indeed racially
discriminatory because their EFFECT was to discriminate racially.
In other words, the end results were what counted.

Giving the tax deduction to the custodial parent without regard as
to which parent actually provides the majority of the support of
a child discriminates on the basis of sex in its EFFECT, if not by
actual statute.

Discrimination on the basis of sex is illegal in this country.

Divorced fathers are not the only ones hurt by this discrimination.
Women who marry divorced fathers are also hurt by it. They end up
paying higher tax bills.

Children who don't have contact with their fathers also suffer. For
some fathers, this further discrimination after losing custody is
one more contributing factor to non-payment of support.

Most working parents depend upon getting medical insurance coverage
through their employers. Some insurance companies will not insure
a dependent unless that person appears as a dependent on the
employee's federal tax returns. No custody, no coverage.

As with most discrimination, the effects of this discrimination
propagate outward in unforeseen ways.

The parent who pays the majority of a child's support deserves to
get the deduction. This discrimination against non-custodial
parents must end. It is sexist, it is illegal and it is just one
more thing that is tearing the fabric of this country apart. Change
the law. It's the right thing to do.

_____________________cut_here___________________________

Joint Committee of Congress on Taxation

Lloyd Bentsen
703 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510

Daniel Patrick Moynihan
464 Russell Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510

Max Baucus
706 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510

Bob Packwood
259 Russell Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510

Bob Dole
141 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510

Dan Rostenkowski
2111 Rayburn House Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20515

Sam M. Gibbons
2204 Rayburn House Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20515

J. J. Pickle
242 Cannon House Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20515

Bill Archer
1236 Longworth House Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20515

Guy Vander Jagt
2409 Rayburn House Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20515

Senate Finance Committee - subcomittee on taxation

Lloyd Bentsen
Max Baucus

David Boren
453 Russell Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510

Bob Packwood

William V. Roth Jr.
104 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510

John C. Danforth
249 Russell Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510

David Pryor
267 Russell Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510

Steve Symms
509 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510

House Ways and Means Committee - Select Revenue Measures

Charles B. Rangel
2252 Rayburn House Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20515

Byron L. Dorgan
203 Cannon House Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20515

Barbera B. Kennelly
204 Cannon House Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20515

Thomas H. Andrews
1724 Longworth House Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20515

Pete Stark
239 Cannon House Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20515

Brian Donnelly
2229 Rayburn House Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20515

William J. Coyne
2455 Rayburn House Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20515

Guy Vander Jagt

Don Sundquist
230 Cannon House Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20515

Fred Grandy
418 Cannon House Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20515

Rod D. Chandler
223 Cannon House Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20515

Other groups

Robert S. McIntyre
Citizens For Tax Justice
1311 L St NW
Washington, DC 20005

Norman B. Ture
Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation
1331 Pennsylvania Ave N.W.
Washington, DC 20004

John H. Makin
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Fiscal Policy Studies
1150 17th St. N.W.
Washington, DC 20036

Wayne Gable
Tax Foundation
470 L'Enfant Plaza East S.W.
Washington, DC 20024
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