by Gerald E. Scorse / February 14th, 2017
In 1996, making good on a shrewd political promise, President Clinton ended “welfare as we know it”. In 2017, battered by election losses, the Democratic Party should double down on a far bigger reform: ending “wealthfare” as we know it.
The mission couldn’t begin at a worse time, or a better time. The triumphant GOP, trifecta in hand, is off in its usual direction. The party is giddy at the prospect of handing another huge tax cut to the rich, including the elimination of an estate tax that affects less than one-third of one percent of all Americans.
If the idea of making the rich richer sticks in your craw, you’re not alone. Americans of all political stripes have had it up to here with a rigged system, and nothing says rigged louder than “wealthfare”.
“Welfare as we know it” met its end because Everybody Just Knew the money went to people who didn’t deserve it. “Wealthfare” has reached its apotheosis because Everybody Just Knows the money goes to people who do deserve it. They’re all supposed masters of the universe, hardworking, hard-driving job creators; the rest of us, awestruck, can only properly show our gratitude by showering them with more money. We do this in myriad ways, most blatantly with tax expenditures.
The Tax Policy Center defines tax expenditures (a.k.a. tax breaks) as “the estimated revenue losses from special exclusions, exemptions, deductions, credits, deferrals,…