John Fox's "Looking for spending cuts? Don't forget home mortgage deduction" (Jan. 26) is the continuation of a determined effort that has begun in the U.S. to discredit the purposes and importance of the home mortgage deduction.

Mr. Fox says the deduction largely benefits the upper 50 percent of wage earners. The mortgage deduction makes a home more affordable by a factor of about 25-35 percent, and the people who actually benefit the most from the deduction, contrary to Mr. Fox's view, are the least able of all of those who own a home, those in higher rate loans who cannot refinance due to job problems, equity problems, etc. Some of these people who cannot refinance and are hanging on by a thread will be unable to keep up payments when their taxes go up significantly.

What the housing market and the economy don't need is another reason for homes to be put on the market. I would not be surprised to see the people behind repeal to be either the super rich (because they do not like to share anything and declared war on the middle class several decades ago) or tea partiers who believe that any government benefit is wrong. This government benefit has stimulated the housing market since World War II (when the middle class became the middle class).

Do any rules ever become permanent? You buy a house with a 30-year mortgage, but then the rules get changed? That kind of policy makes all planning and all projections worthless. Let's do this: If you don't want the deduction, don't take it!

Jeff Tarleton, Reisterstown