According to a new poll, 53% of Americans are worried about making their next mortgage or rent payment. Wow. Let’s concede that some of these people are exaggerating. Let’s concede that some–no more than a relative handful–received mortgages during the housing bubble that they couldn’t hope to pay. But this would be a shocking result if the figure were half as large.
By the way, Rob Shapiro thinks the Budget Commission’s leaked notion of limiting mortgage interest deduction is foolish, given the housing slump. He has some other interesting thoughts, too–especially the use of a financial transaction tax to raise revenues (and, one would hope, discourage speculation).