CFED’s “Upside-Down” Federal Asset Policies Report Gains National Attention

October 13, 2010 in Home From the Blog by United Front

  

  Take Action!
Write a letter to the editor of YOUR newspaper to discuss disparate asset policy
 
Please send a letter to the editor of your local paper to promote the asset-building policy disparities noted in CFED’s report.Upside Down: The $400 Billion Federal Asset Budget is CFED’s third report in its ongoing effort to track federal investments in asset building.  The study – produced in collaboration with the Annie E. Casey Foundation – finds that asset-building policies are opaque and provides subsidies for wealth-building to those who need it least:

  • Low-income households who do not earn enough to itemize deductions get very little benefit, less than $5.
  • A middle-class household earning $50,000 a year “receives less than $500 in benefits” from tax breaks for mortgages, property taxes and investment income.
  • Taxpayers earning more than $1 million enjoy $95,820 in annual support through mortgage and property tax deductions and investment tax breaks.

The report notes that higher-income households pay higher rates and a greater share of taxes. However, they benefit disproportionately: While the overall share of the tax bill for the top 1%  of earners was 27.7% in 2005, their share of total benefits from asset policies that same year was more than 45%. 
Enter your zip code in the box below for a draft letter to the editor for you to submit to your local newspaper. 
You may wish to use state-specific data from CFED’s Assets and Opportunity Scorecard to make your point. 
 CFED’s letter to the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform recommends numerous legislative options to provide savings and wealth building subsidies to more Americans. 
Click here to read an editorial published in The Washington Post on CFED’s report.