Senator Isakson (R-GA) has proposed that the $8,000 housing tax credit be extended until June 2010 and that eligibility be expanded to include households with incomes of up to $300,000 and those who already own a home. The Joint Tax Committee estimates that this tax credit extension will cost taxpayers almost $17 billion over the next five years. At a time when so many are suffering from an unemployment rate nearing 10 percent, and with the federal budget deficit over the next 10 years projected to total $13 trillion, this new tax credit proposal seems extravagant even by federal standards.