“What would you do if you had $1 million? Believe it or not, some of you might live in government-subsidized housing.” That was the pre-ad lead in to a story on the Fox News Grapevine Show 18 August 2015, which was not about the hugely more expensive mortgage interest deduction, which costs over $400 billion over five years. That’s a huge government subsidy for housing. Here’s the transcript:
Helping Hand
You — the taxpayer — are subsidizing more than 25,000 families in public housing — even though they exceed the income limits.
An Inspector General’s report estimates that $104 million will be spent over the next year on ineligible households — while hundreds of thousands of low-income families– are stuck on the waiting list.
Some of the disturbing examples–
A New York family with annual income of nearly a half-million dollars — lives in public housing — and has been over the limit for five years.
In the Big Apple alone — more than 300,000 families are on the waiting list.
In Nebraska — a tenant has assets worth $1.6 million — and lives in a subsidized apartment — paying only $300 a month.
The government only requires tenants to be under the income limit during the application process.
There is no requirement to remove over-income families — a loophole the IG– wants the government to close.
Mortgage interest deduction cost of $405.2 billion over five years is on page 26 of https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4663
The Center for New Revenue 