2 views on taking away the mortgage interest deduction.

From a WaPo article on the supposedly real possibility that $100-billion-a-year item with make it into the fiscal cliff deal.

1. Edward Kleinbard, USC tax lawprof:

“We simply cannot afford wasteful government subsidy programs anymore, and this is one of the most important examples of that... It’s very much a subsidy to those Americans who need it least.”

2. Mark Zandi, Moody's economist:

“It’s a very visceral thing for people.... People account for it when they think about how much house they could afford to buy. You take that away, and house prices are going to weaken. They are going to decline.”