# Tax deduction on mortgage interest being chopped **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 28, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-deduction-on-mortgage-interest-being-chopped/642374 "2012-11-28T15:56:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-deduction-on-mortgage-interest-being-chopped/642374/101 "2012-12-02T01:13:18Z")
> [@southernlady](#): > > Actually we are one of the top three cities where we ARE well into a recovery and creating jobs. Jobs aren’t fungible. It matters _what_ jobs are becoming available. And labor isn’t infinitely mobile either. People can’t just start appearing like magic en masse when jobs start becoming available. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-deduction-on-mortgage-interest-being-chopped/642374/102 "2012-12-02T15:53:21Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Anyone who has to commute for 3+ hours/day to find affordable housing is not living the good life. But people choose to do it. If you only work a 40 hour week, 20 hours of commuting still has you spending less time on work-related activities than many. I choose to live and work in DC. I have coworkers who live in Baltimore, West Virginia, and one guy who I don’t fully understand who lives in Pennsylvania. Some drive. Some take a combination of public transportation. One guy pays big money to ride Amtrak every day. Some “slug”, riding with strangers so said strangers can drive in HOV lanes. I don’t think anyone has brought up environmental issues. If this subsidy allows people to commute less, that had some benefits to everyone. Not sure how to quantify that though. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-deduction-on-mortgage-interest-being-chopped/642374/103 "2012-12-07T19:12:43Z")
It is very hard to have a local COLA based tax. The most equitable way to reduce the mortgage interest deduction is to turn it into a credit. You get a 20% credit for mortgage interest you pay up to some cap. Right now the richer you are, the more the mortgage interset deduction is worth to you. Have a unified investment tax scheme. Don’t have 401K and IRA and Roth IRA and annuities and variable life insurance and dozens of other tax advantaged methods of saving. Have one method and cap the tax advantage to a reasonably high number. Then subject everything else to an ordinary income tax. Its gotten to the point where people would rather recognize current taxes at the capital gains rate rather than deferred income at the ordinary income tax rates. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-deduction-on-mortgage-interest-being-chopped/642374/104 "2012-12-07T19:19:37Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I don’t think setting national policy based on what stuff costs in Manhattan really makes sense. Fixed that for you. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-deduction-on-mortgage-interest-being-chopped/642374/105 "2012-12-07T20:26:47Z")
Just FYI, that “I fixed that for you” thing where you change someone else’s words inside quote tags – it violates SDMB rules. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-deduction-on-mortgage-interest-being-chopped/642374/106 "2012-12-07T20:28:09Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > Fixed that for you. Do not edit text inside quote boxes. ---
**Author:** ![Miltonyz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Miltonyz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miltonyz)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-deduction-on-mortgage-interest-being-chopped/642374/107 "2012-12-07T20:48:58Z")
```php ``` > [@Lochdale](#): > > So salaries are equivalent between your city and say NY? Where do you live as that might help us compare. Salary by itself is a meaningless metric. Salary divided by cost of living would a much more accurate way to look at it. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-deduction-on-mortgage-interest-being-chopped/642374/108 "2012-12-07T21:05:54Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Do not edit text inside quote boxes. My very bad; humor was intended and I should have used a different format to deliver the joke. Edit original post or delete, as you see fit. Apologies to all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-deduction-on-mortgage-interest-being-chopped/642374.md?page=5)