Year: 2012

Welfare for the rich

Matt Yglesias has a nice chart today comparing the cost of the mortgage interest tax deduction to the cost of other kinds of housing subsidies: It turns out that the mortgage interest deduction absolutely dwarfs the housing subsidies provided primarily for low-income renters. The mortgage interest tax deduction skews to the wealthy for a few… Continue reading Welfare for the rich

Desert theory and social Darwinism

Recently, President Obama dismissed the new Paul Ryan budget as social Darwinism. Paul Ryan’s budget slashes spending on social programs for the poor while simultaneously massively cutting taxes on the very wealthy. That is, relative to the present, it redistributes money from the poor to the rich. Paul Ryan has never specifically spelled out which… Continue reading Desert theory and social Darwinism

A quick note on starving the beast

One interesting and behind-the-scenes strategy of American conservatives is to starve the beast. Under the Starve the Beast strategy, conservatives embed themselves into government and cut taxes as much as possible whether they can offset the tax cuts or not. The usually articulated goal of this strategy is to force the United States government to… Continue reading A quick note on starving the beast

Identitarianism’s class problem

Identitarianism (aka identity politics) is a descriptive and prescriptive political framework that emphasizes the interests and perspectives of discrete identity groups. Gay rights, women’s rights, black rights, trans rights, and other similar movements push the interests of those identity groups. Some who operate within the identitarian framework often try to lump class issues into that… Continue reading Identitarianism’s class problem