On the other hand, this demonstrates the leftwing ideal that no one owns anything. You just live somewhere and when bad things happen, you make a phone call and the folks in charge come and rescue you. This is the world Barney lives in, and it's the world he wants us all to live in. I think they call it communism.
People in the real world invest in their homes for many reasons, among them the potential increase in equity and the tax benefits.
And then you have Congressmen. Why would they worry about saving for retirement? Their pensions beat anything one might gain from building equity. And who care about taxes when one has a huge slush fund (campaign contributions) to live off of? I doubt Barney ever pays for a meal. We pay for his health care. We probably pay for his car (and driver?). And I bet his travel is paid for by his campaign. He doesn’t have office expenses.
Our Privileged Public Class. Hopefully we’ll depose them in November. And, if Republicans have any kind of clue at all, they’ll make demonstrative moves to curtail the privileges of office. I won’t hold my breath, though.