I agree. The republicans could immediately kiss off a significant percentage of their supporters if they pushed this. As for making it up elsewhere, I will believe that when I see it. The problem with the HID is that an awful lot of people made investments relying on it. When they "reformed" real estate taxation in the late 80's they caused a terrible housing and financial crash. Surely they aren't so stupid they will do it again.
The MID is one of the most punitive taxes in the US for renters. It's a joke it was ever created in the first place. Amazing so many people talk about equality in the US while at the same time supporting MID.
I agree. I think it's an example of the famous "road to hell is paved with good intentions" phenomenon. Incentives that are supposed to achieve a particular social benefit end up being gamed by rational mkt participants and create massive distortions as a side effect.
The Republican Party has a lot of money in their back pocket now (Obama is running out) and they have most Americans occupied with Abortion (aka Obama care), Gun Control and Religious Issues. God bless them! The point is never underestimate the stupidity of the voters. They will surly surprise you every time on how little you need to think in order to survive in society! If you say it on TV enough time it becomes true..
I agree as well. Mortgage interest deduction only helps those that owned homes before MID was passed, allowing them to benefit from the price appreciation. All future owners and renters pay an elevated (and government subsidized) rate. So this past group of homeowners benefited at the cost billions in annual government subsidies which all of society has to bear.
That deduction's been around for as long as I've been alive, anyway, so I'm not sure what group you're referring to. Actually, it helps homebuilders and real estate agents. The former get higher prices from the getgo, and the latter get higher commish amounts. Both contribute lavishly to all politicians, which means it ain't never gonna be repealed.
I disagree. Homeowners today who had to purchase a home today or decades ago already paid a higher price than they would have paid without the deduction. Obviously they are sitting on a higher valued asset thanks to the deduction as well, so the overall effect is neutral. As to brokers, that is an industry with limited barriers to entry, so any additional commissions they would have received from higher priced housing has long been competed away by new entrants. So yeah, the people who have benefited from the deduction directly are long dead. You can argue that their decendents who may have inherited their wealth, indirectly benefits from the MID.
Equality no longer means equality, Maverick. It's just like diversity doesn't really mean diversity in the statistical variance sense, it just means increased density in terms of blacks and hispanics. The left in this country has sort of muddled the dialogue. Other examples: "undocumented immigrant", etc. $250,000/year = rich, "windfall profits", and other assorted nonsense. Statists will always tailor their language for better marketing purposes.
This is a false statement unless you use some non-standard definition of wealthy. More than half of the people with AGI between $50k and $75k itemize and three quarters of the people with AGI between $75k and $100k itemize. I would not consider those income ranges "wealthy" by any means.