Welfare for the rich

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/27/opinion/kristof-a-nation-of-takers.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

MARCH 26, 2014
Nicholas Kristof

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Here are five public welfare programs that are wasteful and turning us into a nation of “takers.”

First, welfare subsidies for private planes.

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Second, welfare subsidies for yachts. The mortgage-interest deduction was meant to encourage a home-owning middle class. But it has been extended to provide subsidies for beach homes and even yachts.

In the meantime, money was slashed last year from the public housing program for America’s neediest.

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Third, welfare subsidies for hedge funds and private equity.

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Fourth, welfare subsidies for America’s biggest banks. The too-big-to-fail banks in the United States borrow money unusually cheaply because of an implicit government promise to rescue them.

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Fifth, large welfare subsidies for American corporations from cities, counties and states.

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We’re cutting one kind of subsidized food — food stamps — at a time when Gallup finds that almost one-fifth of American families struggled in 2013 to afford food. Meanwhile, we ignore more than $12 billion annually in tax subsidies for corporate meals and entertainment.

Sure, food stamps are occasionally misused, but anyone familiar with business knows that the abuse of food subsidies is far greater in the corporate suite. Every time an executive wines and dines a hot date on the corporate dime, the average taxpayer helps foot the bill.

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