Dan Stone and Laura Colarusso digest Tom Coburn's analysis, which indicates that American millionaires receive more than $30 billion in government subsidies each year:
The $30 billion in handouts, to put it in perspective, amounts to twice as much as the government spends on NASA, and three times the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency. ... The biggest money comes—or goes, rather—through unpaid taxes. More than 1,500 millionaires paid no income tax last year, according to federal records, mainly due to tax loopholes and savvy accountants. Tax breaks taken by millionaires on things like mortgage interest ($27.7 billion), rental expenses ($64.2 billion) and electric vehicles ($12.5 million) keep cash from entering the federal coffers.
We can debate whether or not it is fair to eliminate payments such as retirement benefits ($9 billion according to the report) and unemployment benefits ($74 million) for millionaires. Even though millionaires’ dependency on these programs is questionable, they do pay into a system that is sold to taxpayers as a form of insurance or investment in one’s future. My preferred option would be to reform the system altogether, but the elimination of these subsidies is definitely a second-best alternative.
Amen. And how great to see the right finally getting serious about this.
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