[gruez]

>It's fine to fund personal causes, admirable even, but you shouldn't be given a tax break for it.

How does this argument work for other deductions that also allow you to "fund personal causes"? For instance, the IRS allows you to deduct interest paid on student loans. I can get student loans to study anything I want, and doing so is arguably used to to advance my "personal agenda" (eg. getting a phd in economics so I can work in a thinktank). Should I be worried that the action was a "reflection of their personal politics" and therefore not get a tax break for it?

Feel free to repeat this argument for other deductions that the IRS offers: https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions-for-individuals

[lmm]

Yes, most deductions should be abolished. Payments to 503cs are one of the ones that take the most out of the public purse though, AIUI, since even the richest people don't pay a huge amount of student loan interest.