Fiscal Cliff

And, mortgage interest deductions ------> tax credit with limits gaining support.

http://public.cq.com/docs/weeklyreport/weeklyreport-000004177540.html

Momentum for revising the tax code by reducing rates and cutting back deductions is rising on Capitol Hill.

But a coalition of left-leaning groups is trying to show Congress that there is a constituency for an overhaul. And the builders lobby, while defending the deduction, nonetheless concedes some negotiating room. Builders say they’re studying the credit option and say that if it’s generous enough it might help builders who cater to first-time buyers.

“What we learned is that the public thinks the mortgage interest deduction is a wonderful thing and likes it, and eliminating it does not get public support,” says Sheila Crowley, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. “But when we talked about modernizing it, people supported that.”

I was referring to the following paragraphs re "gaining support"

Quote:

But a coalition of left-leaning groups is trying to show Congress that there is a constituency for an overhaul. And the builders lobby, while defending the deduction, nonetheless concedes some negotiating room. Builders say they’re studying the credit option and say that if it’s generous enough it might help builders who cater to first-time buyers.

“What we learned is that the public thinks the mortgage interest deduction is a wonderful thing and likes it, and eliminating it does not get public support,” says Sheila Crowley, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. “But when we talked about modernizing it, people supported that.”

$40 billion a year — almost half the roughly $100 billion a year estimated in forgone revenue that results from the current deduction.

today, we will honor the Thanksgiving tradition with wishes of peace and grace,” she continued. “We’ll pray for those less fortunate. We’ll think of servicemembers away from home, and give thanks for them and their families. Our hearts will go out to families still without power after Hurricane Sandy.”


...


“At a time of so much economic suffering, raising taxes would have a devastating impact on small businesses and our economy,” said McMorris Rodgers, in her address. “We can’t let this happen.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., bucked Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist and his anti-tax pledge on Sunday, the second Republican senator to do so in less than a week.
Although Graham will not give way to raising tax rates, he said Republicans need to be open to increasing government revenues.
“I think Grover is wrong,” Graham said on ABC’s This Week. “I will violate the pledge … for the good of the country.”

Last week, Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., told a local television station that he is more worried about the fiscal cliff than he is about adhering to the no-new-taxes pledge, prompting a response from Norquist, Politico reported. More

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., echoed these sentiments, saying times have changed since he first signed the pledge.
“A pledge you signed 20 years ago, 18 years ago, is for that Congress,” King said on NBC’s Meet the Press. “If I were in Congress in 1941, I would have signed the declaration of war against Japan. I'm not going to attack Japan today. The world has changed.”

The public is pessimistic about fiscal cliff negotiations, with a new CNN poll showing 67 percent of Americans predicting their elected officials will act like “spoiled children.” Only 28 percent expect members of Congress to behave like “responsible adults.”

Two-thirds of survey respondents said that the U.S. would face a either a crisis or major problems if negotiations break down and we go over the cliff.

If negotiations fail and automatic spending cuts and tax hikes set in, more Americans would blame the Republicans in Congress than Obama, at 45 percent to 34 percent. Source

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) has joined a handful of prominent Republican lawmakers willing to break their pledge to oppose all tax increases.