31.   If you did not have the mortgage interest deduction, would you still benefit by itemizing deductions?

32.   In Britain, the mortgage deduction recently was eliminated, and homeownership rates remain roughly equal to US ownership rates.

33.   In short, the mortgage deduction encourages good citizenship, generates jobs and helps middle-class families build equity.

34.   Interest rates would fall to such an extent, he says, that homeowners would not miss their mortgage interest deductions.

35.   Mortgage interest deductions have helped millions of young families buy homes.

36.   Meanwhile, the well-off would get subsidies through the tax system for such benefits as unlimited mortgage interest deductions or high-cost health insurance.

37.   Most analysts doubt that Congress will risk offending the politically powerful middle class by repealing the mortgage interest deduction even if the tax code is flattened.

38.   No mortgage deductions, no other breaks.

39.   No, not when the family sees what happens to their net worth after their mortgage deduction disappears.

40.   Q. What happens to the home mortgage interest deduction?