The tax bill 'double whammy'

Over the last couple of weeks, constituents in Congress' District 6 have been bombarded with postcards, letters and even robocalls from Rep. Peter Roskam. He is taking credit for "battling the IRS" and "securing the right for Illinoisans to deduct prepaid property taxes on their 2017 return."

The truth of the matter is that Peter Roskam did not battle with the IRS, nor did he secure the right for Illinoisans to prepay their property taxes. The IRS has always stated that if your tax bill is based on the prior year assessment, then prepaid property taxes are deductible. The IRS did not change their position because of Peter Roskam's effort.

It is ironic that the master architect of the tax cut, who significantly reduced the popular property tax deduction in the first place, would now promote himself as a champion of taxpayers' rights. His use of taxpayer dollars to fund his self-promotion campaign is a double whammy for District 6 constituents.

Roskam is tone deaf to his constituents' views. Why does he think that all of those people waited in long lines at the end of the year to prepay property taxes? Maybe he thinks they had nothing better to do with their time during the holidays. What about the many families in District 6 that couldn't prepay property taxes even if they wanted to.

Who has an extra $10,000 or more lying around for this kind of expenditure when they are saving for their children's college, a 401(K), or possibly even their mortgage payment?

Constituents should expect that Peter Roskam and the rest of the GOP who supported this bill will be nowhere in sight as the full effects of tax scam comes back to bite us with crushing deficits, a looming financial crisis, and cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

Sandra Alexander

Glen Ellyn