Mortgage Deduction: Its Days Numbered?

The almost overwhelming size of the nation's debt -- $1.3 trillion for 2010 -- is influencing policy-makers from from both sides of the political aisle. Come Dec. 1, when a bipartisan presidential deficit-reduction commission releases a report on how we can fix this deficit, we could all be in for the surprise of our lives. Federal tax incentives for homeownership, they likely will say, need to be throttled back.

First target: the almighty mortgage interest deduction.