Billions In Subsidies Paid For By Renters
The massive subsidization of homeownership is paid for by renters – in renters' taxes and in higher rents. Here's how it works: Homeowners deduct billions of their housing expenses from taxes, but renters do not deduct their housing expenses from their 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.
By 1994, those subsidies for homeownership had reached $90 billion a year.
By 2012, subsidies for homeownership reached $175 billion per year.
By 2016, subsidies for homeownership reached $195,000,000,000--more than doubling since 1994.
The subsidization of homeownership drives up the prices of all housing, including rents. So homeowners want these artificial price supports to be continued. Instead of saying "subsidies", homeowners say "tax benefits" to disguise their use of government to entitle themselves to renter's money. Without these subsidies for homeownership, prices of all housing would fall dramatically, including rents.
Programs to help more people become homeowners such as Habitat For Homeowners, which is run by homeowners and misnamed "Habitat For Humanity", guarantee a monopoly of political power for homeowners, hence guarantee continued subsidies for homeowners, hence guarantee high rents and poverty for renters. And increasing homeownership decreases the supply of rental housing – which is another cause of higher rents. And where does rental income go? – to homeowners.
Subsidies for homeowners (now $195 billion annually) also means less money for education, infrastructure, fire departments, law enforcement, and important social programs.
Homeowners screw renters by six mechanisms:
(1) by granting themselves massive subsidies
(2) by shifting taxes onto renters
(3) by decreasing the availability of rental units
(4) by rental income to homeowners
(5) by maintaining monopoly political power
(6) by mandatory rental agreements which abrogate privacy and other basic rights.
How do you homeowners excuse your thievery against renters? You rationalize your hypocrisy by defining renters as being less respectable than homeowners. Thereby you say you are more deserving of subsidies – at the expense of renters.
Some of you homeowners argue anyone can become a homeowner, which you know is a lie. And without renters, your Federal taxes would have to go up – to cover that revenue shortfall caused by you deducting $195 billion from your Federal taxes each year. And without renters, you'd have no rental income.
Isn't it ironic that you people who use government to enrich yourselves and impoverish renters then portray yourselves as respectable and responsible and progressive and liberal and socially conscious?
Issue 1 - Letters suppressed by
Santa Cruz Comic News
Issue 2 - Earth Day Is An
Environmental Fraud
Issue 3 -
Billions In Subsidies
Paid For By Renters
Issue 19 - Paragraph censored by
Metro Santa Cruz
Issue 21 - The U.S. Left is a joke
Issue 24 - "Immigration" racism
TOPICAL LINKS:
Want a balanced budget?
End homeowner subsidies
(bumper sticker)
The Truth In Rented Rooms
poetry by Koon Woon