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CAN'T SELL HOUSING? BUILD MORE HOUSING!

July 29, 2008

So houses aren't selling. Congress has passed a monstrosity to prop up the housing market and the two great tottering accounting gamesters, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. How does Congress solve the glut of housing? By subsidizing more housing construction!

The tax title of HR 3221 includes an expansion and sweetening of the low-income housing tax credit and rehab tax credit, to encourage the building of more housing units. The bill increases the per-state limit on allowable credits and makes technical changes that make the credit easier to use. You can find detail on these provisions here.

Solve a housing glut by subsidizing more construction! No wonder the economy is sputtering, with all of the talent of the nations' economic supergeniuses wasted in Congress, rather than in the private sector.

Related: New York Times coverage.

Tags: HR 3221.tax policy.