I find this as the only way the tax benefit that goes towards housing will eventually disappear, by first going after those living in high cost of living areas. thanks to inflation the effect will eventually be distributed to the whole country.

to get rid of the mtg interest deduction all at once imho is not politically feasible.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/romney-vow-lower-middle-class-135446981.html;_ylt=At8.6tSTacJ9MzfJipxPWE.iuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTN1ZWk5MWxjBG1pdANGaW5hbmNlIEZQIE1lZ2F0cm9uIDIEcGtnAzZmZmVkN2ZhLWU5MDAtMzMxZi1iNzBkLTQ1YmU2MjJmNzA4YQRwb3MDMQRzZWMDbWVnYXRyb24EdmVyA2FjOTQ1YTgwLTBlZmItMTFlMi1iNmZiLWYzZTVmZWVkODc5YQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTFpNzk0NjhtBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3

The $17,000 deduction cap "targets taxpayers residing in high-tax states that pay a lot of mortgage interest," says Bloomberg Government analyst Patrick Driessen, who spent 25 years as an economist for the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation.

why not? did you notice that all analysis are about a HH living in Ohio? most of the voters cannot care less about HHs in high cost of living areas (NYC, CA) that vote democrat anyway. why even bother considering what their preferences are when they are not deciding elections?

cc is right. Obama/Dems was shouted down by various interest groups and Repubs when they tried to implement a rate cap of 28% on the deduction. Imagine if Romney tried to do something far more restrictive.