Mortgage interest deduction focus of debt debate: Some Blue Areas Affected in Big Way

The San Francisco Chronicle reports on who benefits from the mortgage interest deduction:

Just three metro areas - greater New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco - receive more than 75 percent of the subsidy, according to a 2004 study by economists Todd Sinai and Joseph Gyourko. Mortgaged homeowners in the San Francisco and San Jose region receive $4.6 billion a year from a tax break for what are known as McMansions, according to a study this year by John Burns Real Estate Consulting in Irvine.

The tax break is available to anyone who borrows up to $1 million for a mortgage - including for a vacation home - or takes as much as $100,000 in a home equity loan.

Are Republicans ready to tax their opponents more?