Scaling back housing related tax breaks (the mortgage interest deduction would be the biggest target) might make economic sense to anyone trying to reduce the budget deficit, but the politics clearly dictate otherwise. Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, has signaled his plan to propose several measures aimed at protecting the mortgage interest deduction and other tax breaks that favor home ownership. The bipartisan support that seemed to be emerging for dramatic changes in the tax code has faded as the housing recovery has seemed to lag expectations, a recent article in Roll Call notes. “Now, both parties are looking to reassure the nation’s 50 million homeowners in a real estate market still looking for equilibrium.”
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