Own a big house? Well, watch out because Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) wants to bankrupt you.
According to the August 24 Baltimore Sun, Dingell plans to propose a "cutoff of mortgage-interest tax deductions for all houses with more than 3,000 square feet."
The culprit is, of course, global warming. Dingell heads the House Energy and Commerce Committee and has been looking for ways to appease the Gore wing of the party without hurting the auto manufacturers Dingell represents. "In order to address the issue of climate change, we must address the issue of consumption," he said in the article.
Dingell is also embracing left-wing class warfare attitudes with this new initiative. The Sun story explained he wants to "remove the mortgage interest deduction on McMansions -- homes over 3,000 square feet." He doesn't say where this number came from. Maybe he owns one that is 2,999.
Like most of the left wing's plan to handle the economy, this would hurt everyone, the industry noted.
"The senior economist for the National Association of Realtors, Lawrence Yun, produced preliminary estimates that terminating mortgage interest tax deductions for all single-family dwellings larger than 3,000 square feet would result in a national median house price decline of 4 percent -- on all homes, not just large houses," concluded the Sun.
The association also questioned who would do the measurements. Perhaps a whole new federal agency of Tapes and Measures.
