"By all rights, it should be made permanent...
Used to be"
Yes, it did. Just another step the government took to raise our taxes (take more of our money) along with all the other fair deductions we are now denied -- along with a raft of DOUBLE TAXATION...I could go on...
At least you remember it and the reason why it's unconscionable. I believe the 1986 tax bill (courtesy of the tax collector, BobDole), eliminated itemized consumer interest deduction in favor of a larger standard deduction which allegedly made it "simpler" by using an average. Or something like that, either way it was an excuse, not a real reason.
Double taxation is precisely what it was.