1.   Forbes would eliminate all loopholes, including the popular mortgage interest deduction aimed at encouraging home ownership.

2.   Our largest housing subsidy-the mortgage interest tax deduction-is the equivalent of a voucher.

3.   Still, concern about home-buying is why Alexander charges that eliminating the mortgage interest deduction would cause a real-estate crash.

4.   The mortgage interest deduction promotes home ownership.

5.   The mortgage interest deduction, for example, subsidizes home ownership, as does the deduction for property taxes.

6.   Among its lobbying goals are preservation of the home mortgage interest deduction and reducing environmental and other regulations that can drive up construction costs, Ellingsworth said.

7.   And eliminating the home mortgage deduction would cause a tumble in real estate values, undermining the one big asset most ordinary Americans have.

8.   And the mortgage deduction overwhelmingly benefits the affluent.

9.   And real-estate agents warn that the elimination of the mortgage deduction could depress housing values.

10.   Better that than tamper with my mortgage deduction, I say.