Bob Nielsen, Chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), responding to President Obama’s proposal in a speech today to limit the mortgage interest deduction (MID), said, “Home owners cannot afford higher taxes at a time when the housing market is struggling to recover and contribute to economic growth…. The reason most taxpayers itemize is because they are home owners, so it is not surprising that nearly 70 percent of the tax benefits associated with this vital tax incentive goes to households earning less than $200,000 a year.  Any attempt to chip away at the mortgage interest deduction would represent an attack on middle-class families.”