Last I checked interest on boats, RV's, etc are most certainly deductable if you can "prove" you lived aboard for two weeks out of the year.

"You ever study economics? " Most certainly. One of my degrees is in Finance. MBA level Econ was required. A long time ago though. Anyone remember using calculus to calcuate the rate of an increase at decreasing rate or visa versa. The flaw with Econ, as it's tought, is it assumes perfect capitalism which doesn't exist. Supplies are manipulated as well as demands. Much of which is via subsidies, aka tax breaks.

"Foreign countries have tax rates also"

If you want a good example just look at Kellogg Brown Root and thank Dick Cheney while you are at it.

In no way do I believe that things will change but in a perfect world paying anything less than the tax rate would mean you received a subsidy which cost all other tax payers.