The American Dream started LONG before Levittown - though I would agree with you that Levittown gave a new look to it. It also made it 'affordable'.

The American Dream is having your own place. You can look at the pioneers, the Oklahoma Land Rush, the 'illegal' settling of the midwest (British colonial subjects weren't supposed to go west into French territory but they did anyway), etc.

The American Dream didn't start with post-WWII. I understand how it could look that way because of people looking back notalgically but they don't want to remember that the only reason 'dad' could earn enough for the family house et al was because the rest of the world economy was in rubble. The United States had the only industrialized base on the planet. Mom didn't have to work. Of course, none of that mattered if you were black - you still had the hoses turned on you. Heck you weren't even allowed to play baseball in the major leagues.

Everyone owning a home or condo is a GOOD thing. When you're invested in your own property, you keep it in better shape (as a general rule).

Like I said, if you want to talk about limits on the mortgage deduction, I think that's a fair place for discussion.

Just because some people perverted the 'rules of the game' into something that didn't resemble reality, it doesn't mean you throw the baby out with ther bathwater.

That being said, years ago, in a discussion on the old Flat Tax, I said that I'd be willing to talk about giving up my mortgage deduction in exchange for lower, flatter income tax rates.

Of course the real problem is that you have an entire economy that has their housing based on that. Granted it doesn't affect apartment building owners (since the whole mortgage is an expense that can be deducted) but I remember hearing a few years ago that home ownership was higher then than at any period in history (as a percentage of population). I would imagine that, except for the bubble, it's still largely true today.