Slash mortgage deductions for the rich? Fat chance- CNN Money

 
By Tami Luhby, senior writerFebruary 15, 2011: 8:08 AM ET
 

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- President Obama's plan to limit two popular deductions for wealthy taxpayers will hit a wall of resistance from entrenched special interests.

The president once again proposed in his budget to curtail high-income earners' tax deduction for mortgage interest payments and charitable contributions.

Under his proposal, taxpayers in the 33% and 35% tax brackets would only be able to deduct their contributions and mortgage interest payments at the 28% rate. It would affect those with taxable income of $250,000 and up and bring in $321 billion over 10 years, according to the White House.

The Obama administration, as well as several tax and deficit commissions, have called for limiting or eliminating the deductions in the past. But the proposals have gone nowhere and the same outcome is expected this year.
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NY Times Feature: Life Without Fannie or Freddie

Imagining Life Without Fannie and Freddie
By GRETCHEN MORGENSON


Published: February 12, 2011

KUDOS to Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development for some straight talk about the nation’s broken mortgage system.

A report to Congress from those departments, published on Friday, provided some long-awaited analysis by the Obama administration about what went wrong in housing finance — and how to fix it.

The report, entitled “Reforming America’s Housing Finance Market,” zeros in on the perverse incentives created by the nation’s mortgage complex during the years leading up to the panic of 2008. The Treasury’s recommendation that we wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and let the private mortgage market step in is spot on.
Still, it is not clear that such moves, sensible though they are, will be enough to prevent taxpayers from having to bail out institutions that back mortgages in the future. That is because the debate over how to put the Treasury’s ideas into effect will soon become a brawl. Powerful participants are already working overtime to keep taxpayers on the hook.  CLICK HERE for Full Article

Obama Administration Proposes 3 Billion in Aide for Jobless Homeowners

$3 billion more for jobless homeowners
By Hibah Yousuf, staff reporterAugust 11, 2010: 2:02 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Obama administration is making $3 billion in additional funds available to help troubled homeowners avoid foreclosure.

One part of the plan, announced Wednesday, includes a new $1 billion program that will offer loans to unemployed borrowers at risk of losing their homes. The loans, which will be dispersed through nonprofit and housing agencies, will carry 0% interest and be good for a maximum of $50,000 for up to two years.
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