Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson, who represents the National Association of Realtors in Congress (oh, I mean the state of Georgia), is now asking to expand the homebuyer credit as well as extend it, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Isakson proposes to make the credit available to all homebuyers, not just first-time homebuyers, as well as increase the value of the credit from $8,000 to $15,000 and extend it for another year. (One issue here is whether two existing homeowners could sell their houses to one another for the same price, whatever it is, and then rent to one another for $1 per year, and make out with $30,000 in cash less some transaction costs.)
You knew this would happen. The real estate industry and their cronies in Congress like Mr. Isakson and Mr. Dodd won’t be happy until homeownership is mandated by an amendment in the Constitution. (If you oppose it, you must oppose the American Dream.) Until then, their plan is to implicitly raise taxes on non-housing related investments in order to subsidize investments in housing.
FYI, what industry is the top donor to Sen. Isakson’s campaign committee? Take a guess. In his career, Sen. Isakson has taken nearly $2 million in contributions from the real estate industry.
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