Why is mortgage interest tax deductible? Rent isn't and the UK has not had mortgage interest as a deductible for many years now.

I keep on saying - don't cut spending, you need spending to stimulate the economy. Raise taxes, and increase the progression of taxes. This applies to income tax, corporation tax, and capital taxes. Do not raise expenditure taxes, they are regressive and you want expenditure to stimulate the economy.

You might want to raise import taxes - but you'd probably have to leave some international trade bodies to do it, and such bodies generally support and benefit the USA more than they do anyone else.