Take the Rich off Welfare

Rating:
Summary: Oink Oink
Review: Before the welfare reform bill of 1996, genuine welfare was about 130 billion dollars per year, including food stamps, AFDC, housing assistance, WIC, Head Start, Low-income energy assistance, JOBS, Legal Services corporation, Medicaid, SSI, Pell grants, and the EITC. Altruistic behavior, of course, enrages conservatives, along with legitimate concerns, such as the Department of Education losing 450 million dollars in a three year time frame.

Meanwhile, the rich are quietly gorging at the trough.

The authors discover that "wealthfare" -- the money we hand out to corporations and wealthy Montgomery Burns types -- is at LEAST 448 BILLION dollars a year. To ensure not being accused of "bias," they consistently use conservative figures, thus leaving the real number far greater.

Their presentation is effective. Well cited, they address the orgy of waste and fraud in the "neglected" Pentagon, Social Security inequities generated from Reagan's sneaky regressive mega-tax hike on working people, phony accelerated depreciations (e.g. the NEGATIVE tax rates many corporations get away with), the S&L bailout we're still paying for, subsidies to nuclear, mining, timber, gas, oil, aviation, handouts to the media giants, insurance loopholes, and much more! Quite a lot for such a little book. A job well done!

This IS the "pinko's" view of the tax code. After all, it's socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor....

Rating:
Summary: A pinko's view of the tax code
Review: I guess this is what passes for a thoughtful review of the tax code for a liberal. I'm sure the author has no desire to give "tax breaks" to individuals any more than those greedy corporations. Besides attacking expense deductions as a "tax break," the class-warfare demagoguery always ignores the ultimate beneficiary of tax breaks to corporations, which are the company's workers and its stockholder. Oh yeah, the stockholders are just greedy rich people anyway, right?

Rating:
Summary: Enraging and revealing study of subsidies,etc. to the rich.
Review: If you look at the PHA in Philadelphia, you will find that most who receive welfare in various forms, ie. subsidized housing are working under the table.

Rating:
Summary: Listing The Subsidies That You Pay For
Review: Taxes are never just to raise revenue, there are always politics involved for preferential treatments. So there will always be those who benefit from tax policies, even if it is called "revenue neutral" (tax the poor more to tax the rich less). The authors list a number of policies that provide benefits for the rich; they call that "wealth fare". This book lists various policies and their costs; you'll rarely find this in your local newspaper. The authors believe its wrong for the rich to steal from the poor (p.8). Lower corporate taxes resulted in huge Federal deficits and higher taxes for the rest of us (p.10).

Government subsidies are fixed amounts of money listed in the budget. Tax breaks receive little scrutiny and are open-ended (p.12). "Military Waste and Fraud" wastes $172 billion a year. But this can provide benefits to the districts of powerful Congressmen, a form of transfer payments. These made the Southwest bloom and the Northeast a "rust belt". Overpriced items may be "Hollywood accounting" for cost-overruns. Reagan and Congress lowered taxes on the rich by raising Social Security taxes on earned income (p.36). Raising the taxable limit could reduce this tax for most people. Page 39 explains the scam of accelerated depreciation. The capital gains tax is a subsidy to the super-rich (p.41). Lower capital gains taxes results in lower growth in the economy (p.44). Page 46 explains how the Federal Reserve damaged and destroyed the Savings & Loan banks. They needed help from Congress for this looting (pp.47-48). Like the other scams, the average taxpayer pays for this too (p.51).

There are some mistakes in this book. The "average full-time farmer is worth $700,000" (p.56). That's not as much as it sounds: 200 acres at $2,000 an acre, house and barns about $150,000, supplies and tools another $150,000 (your estimates may vary). That is for a small owner-operated business. While they may quibble about subsidies, food is cheaper in America than elsewhere, and you don't find people dying from hunger as in earlier times (p.57). [Isn't it cost-effective to have people die from excess feeding in their 60s than from TB or hunger by age 30?] Their price for a barrel of oil is far out of date (p.67). Page 73 explains why the credit for foreign taxes can ship US jobs abroad.

The authors want to tax municipal bonds because the wealthy benefit more (p.74). The real problem is that states continually borrow more and more to create this tax-free income; that's why states now have such huge debts. Federal salaries and pensions can be reduced to save money and taxes (p.81). Page 83 explains the scam of corporate owned life insurance! The diatribe against "nuclear subsidies" sounds like it was paid by Big Oil. Nuclear power is big in France, Japan, and Saudi Arabia; why not here? The minerals and oil depletion allowances are tax breaks disallowed to wage earners. Page 102 makes the mistake of claiming that tax breaks keep gasoline prices lower; actually the higher prices in Europe are due to higher taxes!

The authors document many types of government subsidies. But don't the same laws exist in many other countries? Various groups collude to create laws that benefit them or their businesses. It just depends on whether you want the greatest good for the greatest number.




Rating:
Summary: Short and to the point!
Review: The next time some smug nabob starts muttering under his/her breath about the drain on our economy caused by the proverbial 'welfare mother' (you know, the one that's driving the Cadillac), you can put em' in their place armed with the wealth of info contained in this short but well written little book.

As 'Take the Rich Off Welfare' aptly points out, welfare really does suck a lot of money from our treasury, but it's not the poor and needy in this country that benefits from this bonanza. As a matter of fact the word 'wealthfare' is more applicable, because that's who's really benefiting- the wealthy.

Very brief, but meticulously researched and with sources to back up every fact, 'Take the Rich off Welfare' is a great introduction to the big wide world of graft in America. If you've ever been curious about who has their foot in the back door of the treasury- check out this fine book.

Rating:
Summary: Short and to the point!
Review: The next time some smug nabob starts muttering under his/her breath about the drain on our economy caused by the proverbial `welfare mother' (you know, the one that's driving the Cadillac), you can put em' in their place armed with the wealth of info contained in this short but well written little book.

As `Take the Rich Off Welfare' aptly points out, welfare really does suck a lot of money from our treasury, but it's not the poor and needy in this country that benefits from this bonanza. As a matter of fact the word `wealthfare' is more applicable, because that's who's really benefiting- the wealthy.

Very brief, but meticulously researched and with sources to back up every fact, `Take the Rich off Welfare' is a great introduction to the big wide world of graft in America. If you've ever been curious about who has their foot in the back door of the treasury- check out this fine book.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully readable account of "Wealthfare" in America
Review: This wonderfully readable, concise volume documents clearly the specific ways in which our government hands subsidies to the very wealthiest Americans while penalizing everyone else. All of the issues are very clearly defined and thoroughly researched. Even more impressively, despite the staggering amount of Wealthfare that the authors document, they are quite reasonable in their assessments of Wealthfare. They don't make outrageous claims or use the numbers of only their friends and allies to bolster their case. My relying on independent sources for their statistics they bolster their overall case, without overstating it. The first book on politics I've ever read that I truly wish I could give to every American Voter.