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EDITORIAL: Homeowner Hypocrisy

Homeowners, by their monopoly of political power, grant themselves billions in subsidies--which they don't call “subsidies”. By 2016, that subsidy reached $195 billion per year--that's $195,000,000,000 each year, more than doubling since 1994.

Instead of honestly describing their governmental subsidies as subsidies, homeowners say "tax benefits" or the "American Dream" to disguise their attitude of entitlement to renter's money.

In other words, homeowners deduct $195 billion of their housing expenses from their taxes, but renters do not get to deduct their housing expenses from renters' taxes, which are correspondingly raised so that homeowners' taxes can be lowered. Renters' taxes have to be higher than they would otherwise be in order for the taxes of homeowners to be lower than they would otherwise be. The subsidization of homeownership is paid for by renters.

An essay by Sheila Blair in Fortune Magazine (page 88, March 19, 2012) calls for an end to the subsidization of home mortgage interest, which was $100 billion of that total $175 billion annual (2012) subsidy for homeownership. Sheila Blair is a former chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Her essay was entitled "Want To Spur Growth? For One, End The Home Mortgage Deduction". But you won't be able to read Sheila Blair's essay in the online archives of Fortune Magazine's website because they suppressed it. In response to an email inquiry as to why they suppressed that essay, Fortune Magazine replied that it was just a matter of "priorities" in selecting articles for online archival storage. What a joke. You might be able to read the hard copy at your local library.

BUMPERHUMPER:  Tax benefits for paid for by tax payers who don't have them