Many economists, most recently at a home builders conference I reported on last month, have been predicting housing weakness next spring when several things happen at once: Interest rates rise, the home buyer tax credit expires, foreclosures tick up and the government eases purchases of mortgage backed securities.

Now here's more support for that theory from Reuters:

Both the credit and another major government action -- the purchase of more than $1.4 trillion in mortgage-related securities aimed at cutting home loan rates -- will now end within weeks of each other. The purchases stop by March 31.

Unless the employment picture brightens around that time, housing does not have enough footing to forge a recovery on its own, most economists and industry experts said.

More proof that the government should be focusing on making it easier to operate small- to medium-sized businesses - whether we like it or not our primary job engine. Talk of large tax increases, crushing debt and new multi-trillion-dollar government entitlements encourages caution and businesses retrenchment.