New federal data show just how hard some policies hit the wealthy
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US spends twice as much on tax break for rich as on rent for the poorest
The US government spends more than twice as much subsidizing the tax break for affluent homeowners, who would most likely be able to afford their homes anyway, as it does on helping the poorest families pay rent and avoid homelessness – $60.1bn versus $29.9bn in 2015. As Congress tackles tax reform, advocates and economists of all political stripes are appealing for the tax break to be addressed, but the chances of that are uncertain.
Trump’s true priorities revealed in holiday news dumps
In the week that followed, Trump kept giving his members new reasons to celebrate. While cable news fixated on how much he was golfing – his political appointees back in Washington worked overtime to deconstruct the administrative state, eviscerate several of Barack Obama’s signature achievements and roll back significant environmental protections. Like Richard Nixon’s attorney general John Mitchell said, watch what they do — not just what they say. Trump campaigned like a populist. Now more than ever, he’s governing like a plutocrat.
People are starting to realize the GOP tax bill was a massive scam
President Donald Trump and the Republicans sold their slapdash effort at tax reform as a boon to the middle class. As the law goes into effect, however, new polling suggests that most Americans are struggling to see any benefit at all in their paychecks.
The richest Americans get a $33,000 tax break under the GOP tax law. The poorest get $40.
The Republican tax law passed last fall will give the richest 1 percent of Americans an average personal income tax break of about $33,000, while the poorest Americans will receive an average personal income tax break of $40, according to a new study published this week by nonpartisan analysts.
An explosive U.N. report shows America’s safety net was failing before Trump’s election
A new United Nations report is getting plenty of national media attention for predicting President Trump will exacerbate hardships for America's poor by weakening the nation's safety net. Among countries in the developed world, the report says, America already has the highest rates of youth poverty, infant mortality, incarceration, income inequality and obesity.
A stunning indictment of the U.S. health-care system, in one chart
One quarter of American adults say they or a family member has put off
treatment for a serious medical condition because of cost, according to data released this week by Gallup. That number is the highest it’s been in nearly three decades of Gallup polling. The report also shows a growing income gap in cost-related delays.