Eliminate the Mortgage Interest Deduction Now

Shout Bits Blog ^ | 06/18/2012 | Shout Bits

[andy58-in-nh]

We need a broader, not a narrower tax base. Whether that is in the form of a levy on income or sales does not matter so much as the fact that it needs to be paid by as many people as possible.

Only then will a majority of Americans have an incentive to cut the size, scope and reach of government. Right now, the endless expansion of the Leviathan State only hurts a shrinking minority of voters - and that is entirely by design.

[Codeflier]

There is a factual problem for sure. My mortgage is much smaller than 313K, yet the difference for my family of four between the standard deduction and the itemized this year was about 12k or almost 4k in taxes. Perhaps the poster is advocating using the standard deduction along with the other itemized deductions except for mortgage interest?

[muawiyah]

We need less government first, and less government spending.

FIRST.

I see no reason to adjust taxes upward until that's accomplished.

[PauldArco]

So... I would be effectively paying $2000 more in taxes... and then everything would be okay? Like the banks and the governments will suddenly start behaving well? What delusion is this?

[unixfox]

How bout we eliminate the entire tax code and eliminate the IRS altogether.

Call me stupid.

[Dr. Sivana]

No one in this country should have a zero federal income tax liability.

You must have really hated it when there was no 16th Amendment and no one had a zero tax liability, except for the unconstitutional one during the War Between the States.

The Income Tax itself was a progressive idea.

[muawiyah]

BTW, you are thinking of taxes entirely wrong ~ just wanted to let you know that. Higher taxes don't bind me closer to the state ~ it's not like a warm and fuzzy thing.

But the federal personal income tax is only one of many. My local property taxes, state income taxes, excise taxes, passthroughs from corporate income tax, excise taxes and property taxes ('cause corporations don't pay taxes ~ their customers do) are all onerous and should be reduced substantially.

Start by eliminating government spending.

[muawiyah]

Conservatives do not now nor have they ever supported income taxes.

[YankeeReb]

Best to abolish the federal personal income tax as just another failed federal program that's long outlived its utility.

Agreed, but you'd need to repeal the 16th amendment. Good luck with that, since it's the progressives main social engineering tool. You might as well ask a carpenter to give up his hammer.

[Brookhaven]

By your logic, candy bar purchases should also be tax deductable.

The money a quick-mart makes selling a candy bar is taxed.

I don’t think the person buying a candy bar should be taxed on that money also.

[muawiyah]

Why do we have these secondary Mittbots showing up on FR telling us we gotta' back higher taxes on the middle-class?

Are they going to tell us we hate somebody's religion if we don't support this idea?

I'm getting suspicious of what's going on since this is about a dozen such threads over the last week.

[DuncanWaring]

The big three (military, Medicaid, and Social Security) ...

I'm not certain "military" is one of the big three.

Even if it's the biggest (which it's not), it's the only one of the three that is a legitimate function of government.

The other two should be eliminated entirely.

[YankeeReb]

Now, a $300k mortgage is not unheard of, but it is clearly not for the struggling working class.

Really!?! Been house hunting in metropolitan NYC or Boston recently?
A modest house or townhouse in a decent area starts around $250K. What planet are these people on?

[DuncanWaring]

I’m disappointed it took a half-hour and 18 posts for someone to make that point.

[muawiyah]

The 16th is not required to use the personal income tax to work it’s wonders.

[muawiyah]

With a refund.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

You want the government to inflate the free market.

[The_Media_never_lie]

Send housing mkt into freefall, cool!

[The_Media_never_lie]

Send housing mkt into freefall, cool!

[The_Media_never_lie]

Send housing mkt into freefall, cool!