Republicans are secretly killing the mortgage interest deduction for everyone but the truly well off. https://t.co/TcKhWEn1cv

— lawhawk (@lawhawk) January 5, 2017

They’ll do it by manipulating the standard deduction threshold. Make sure that only someone who is rich and doesn’t actually need the mortgage deduction (which can be taken only if you’re itemizing returns) can take it.

In other words, the GOP will crater the housing market, make it more expensive for most everyone in the middle class, and preserve the benefit for the richest folks out there.

Rinse and repeat. This is GOP policy. This is also why simplification is a misnomer. The GOP is intent on “simplifying” how much money the rich can keep, while shifting the burdens elsewhere.

That’s not to say there aren’t good reasons to phase out the mortgage interest deduction over time, but that’s not the GOP plan. Phasing it out over time would reduce the negative effects on homeowners who bought expecting to have the deduction make the purchase more affordable.