I am preparing for next year's taxes (this year is already in the books). By next year I will have purchased a new home, and so I think I will qualify for itemized deductions.

Reading up on it now, it seems it might be difficult to amass greater than the new high-limit standard deduction (for married filing jointly). One reason is because the closing is not until mid-year. According to some sites that explain the new higher standard deductions, once you can itemize under the old tax laws, your tax savings become higher (seemingly not linearly).

My question is, does raising the standard deduction preclude savings by taxpayers? It seems this particular law prevents taxpayers from being able to take advantage a previous boon. To put it differently, did this new set of tax laws effectively 'screw' the taxpayers at large?