Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Taking Care of Business

I have a few loose ends that I need to take care of. First, you might have noticed my first paying advertisement on the right. I was invited to join blogads several months ago by Michigan Liberal and decided to sign up. I never actually expected to get an ad since I'm a small fish in a very large pond - and I expected any ads I might be offered to be political in nature - so I was surprised to see the one on the right. It's from the Association for Homeowners Across America and I'm guessing they decided to run an ad on my blog because I post a lot of stuff about the economy. Actually, the ad does qualify as political too. Duh!

I don't vouch for any company or person who chooses to run an ad on my blog, but I can point you to this article about the AHAA. They were created to be the successful homeowners' resource, and part of their mission includes helping people become homeowners through down payment assistance.

Also, I have not had time to read up on the issue of Congress eliminating the mortgage interest deduction. This was discussed quite a bit in the media last year and I remember having mixed emotions about it at the time. I will tell you that my husband and I benefit from the deduction because our interest payments + our property taxes + our charitable contributions puts us well over the standard deduction. We don't have any dependents so this helps us reduce our tax liability.

Anyway, if you feel strongly about keeping the mortgage interest deduction, click the ad and sign their petition urging Congress to keep it. (For those of you in California, I remember reading that the greatest number of taxpayers claiming this deduction come from your state. Please feel free to chime in!)

Finally, I have a little something for Lew @ Unbrainwashed about the mock documentary BELIEVE that takes aim at the deceptive practices of Amway. According to the Grand Rapids Press, the film premiers in Lansing tomorrow (Sept. 21) and opens in the Grand Rapids area and elsewhere in Michigan Oct. 13. In Grand Rapids, it will play at the Cinemark theaters at RiverTown Crossings and Woodland Shopping Center. Enjoy!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well I clicked for you and signed the petition. Hope you make some cash on it.

Kathy said...

Thanks, Libby. I actually get a flat rate from the ad (minus commission to blogads) so I'm not sure the click matters. However, I think the petition is worth signing if only to let Congress know people are keeping an eye on them. There needs to be broad discussion about this before they make any changes, and I'm leaning more toward simply tweaking the deduction to eliminate the very wealthy who use the deduction instead of eliminating it altogether.