Posted on 10/24/2008 2:20:33 PM PDT by freespirited
To add to the mortgage meltdown miseries, the credit panic, the plunging home sales and the rising foreclosures, here's a new worry: a proposed cutoff of mortgage-interest tax deductions for houses with more than 3,000 square feet.
One of Capitol Hill's most experienced and most powerful legislators is drafting a "carbon tax" bill that would do precisely that. The chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), expects to introduce comprehensive climate-change legislation when Congress returns next month.
Besides imposing hefty new federal taxes on gasoline, the forthcoming bill would, in Dingell's words, seek to "remove the mortgage interest deduction on McMansions -- homes over 3,000 square feet." Dingell said he recognizes that such a proposal will spark much criticism, but he also said it is essential to reducing carbon emissions by 60 percent to 80 percent by 2050.
"In order to address the issue of climate change, we must address the issue of consumption," Dingell said in talking points prepared for town-hall discussions of the legislation. "We do that by making consumption more expensive."
Houses, like autos, are contributors to greenhouse-gas emissions. This is through heating, cooling, electrical usage and building materials, plus the highways and roads needed to make far-flung subdivisions accessible to buyers. Home builders insist that they have "gone green" in recent years and that houses constructed within the past decade are the tightest, most energy-efficient in history.
Aides to Dingell said that because the legislative language on large houses and other tax proposals is still being drafted, neither they nor the congressman could elaborate on the details of the plan or why the cutoff point of 3,000 square feet was chosen.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Have they completely lost their minds?
Would those poor folks who were forced into subprime loans by evil bankers and whose houses exceed 3,000 feet also lose their deduction? Hmm?
Bit discriminatory against folks that live in cheaper areas, too.
2007 article.
Another frikken socialist crawls out of his 'rat hole.
Democrat Crime/Collectivist/Socialist Syndicate BUMP!
Socialism is out in the open and on the march.
2007 article.
I hope they remember some people have BIG families. Some adopt, some take in foster children, etc.
This is a very old article. But I did recently hear this being a current issue in the after election session of congress. I did a search and could not find it. Perhaps a smarter Freeper will post for us.
And so we watch as climate change becomes a “Do whatever we want” license for Big Brother. Whoever thought that the weather could contribute to the erosion of freedom.
BITS is coming. Never thought I'd see it, but I'm now sure I will.
FMCDH(BITS)
Have they completely lost their minds?
They’ve completely gone full blown Communist. I think they’re getting brave because Obama is close to the Whitehouse.
They caused the financial mess to begin with now they want to dictate home size and confiscate 401k’s
That will really depress the housing market. Regardless of size as people cannot trust the deduction for any size house in the future or sell there existing house.
Larger house prices will drop to prices of smaller houses and compete for buyers against the smaller houses.
Dumb. Stupid. Unreal.
Also, if the government can decide that it’s 3k sq ft, who’s to say later on the govt doesn’t decide to reduce that to 2k or more?
Holy crap are these mofos against any kind of private wealth or property ownership whatsoever? Seriously. What’s with these envious pieces of sh*t?
Home stopping at 2,990 to 2,999 sq. ft. will be great.
Between this and the 401(k) murder-death-kill, I think that the Dems are overplaying their hands. As far as they are concerned, Obama has already been crowned and they are slobbering over all of the nifty socialist programs they get to shove down our throats. They can barely contain their communism, but I believe it will come back to hurt them.
So they are going to discriminate against people with large families?
I can’t fit my Catholic family in anything less, and frankly 3000sqft is not a Mansion. When all of us are home for the holidays, we walk into each other.
So the democrats are going to go after Catholics, Mormons and large families to enforce population control.
I know this little nasty tax would not apply to democrats like Charlie Rangel because he got HIS big tax break on his No-interest mortgage, which, btw, is not available to non-democrat leaders.
*tongue-in-cheek (but could make a useful, if completely inane, political jab.)
A 3 thousand square foot house is supposed to be a mansion now? WTH?
With such a law we could completely destroy the real estate market for the next 50 years. All those foreclosures will go on the market and drive down property values enough so we can bankrupt every county and city in the country. This is like a mortgage Armageddon... Go ahead and pass this... we will have a Republican majority within 2 years.
Blacks and Latinos in general own majority of small houses as they fall under lower income and they will get tax benefits.
Whites and Asians will receive no such credit as they own big houses thus giving more of their wealth to Obama.
Obama and Democrats have declared race war against Whites. Somebody needs to stand up against them.
Obama and democrats have declared war on Whites and Asians.
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