Some personal news: I’m joining Business Insider as a political reporter starting Monday and I’m very excited for the move. I’ll be doing a combination of the same blogging I’ve been doing at this site plus additional in-person reporting.
Political Algebra isn’t going anywhere, but I will no longer be writing new posts here. I’ll try to update every so often with a selection of my favorite pieces over at BI. Definitely check there frequently for new content from me and the many all-star writers at the site. I’ve had a tremendous amount of fun writing here and I’m very grateful for everyone who has commented and interacted with me, either on the blog or via Twitter. Gaining blog views is difficult with the sheer amount of content readily available across the web so I’m also very thankful for everyone who spread my work. It’s been a privilege to contribute to political and policy conversations from this blog and I am looking forward to continuing to do so at Business Insider. Thanks for reading!
Danny Vinik 
Your article on housing aid was way, way WAY off the mark. Comparing government aid to mortgage deductions makes no sense. Actually, just go read the comments that have been left here:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/government-quietly-giving-way-more-212800893.html
It blows my mind how completely clueless they can be about finance and economics, you included… It is no wonder we’re in such a mess… You need to get a clue.
excuse me, how completely clueless people can be… Many of the commenters are spot on.
Your comment regarding housing aid was enlightening. I pay over %50 of my income in rent. And I’m on disability. I go without a lot of things just to have a roof over my head. Thanks for your article.
Enlightening? Maybe for you, but it was still wrong. The writer is saying that people like you deserve free money while people who actually buy homes don’t deserve deductions on the taxes the pay based on interest payments. Those two are unrelated.
The rich do not get housing aid, period. The government doesn’t spend a dime on these people. It just means they pay a little less tax than what they would otherwise have paid had they not bought a home. That’s a win-win-win for the homeowner the people and the government. These tax breaks are limited in nature and get smaller and smaller as a person makes more and more. Pretty much anyone in the 1% doesn’t get these breaks, yet he’s blaming it on the “rich”.
If you want to eliminate the breaks from potential home buyers the be prepared for a very significant downturn in the housing market which will be just wonderful for the economy and will end up costing the government more money that it will help.
As for the other part of his complaint that the poor don’t get any help. They get the same help and likely more since they make less money, but the help he wants to give them is free money, money that comes from other people. This does nothing to help the economy and only further burdens it.
One reason you pay 50% of your income on housing is due to government interference. Government interference caused the housing bubble leading up to 2008 and subsequently prevented prices from correcting fully. So for the moment we’re still left with homes that are artificially still too high. Other reasons you pay so much depend on where you live. If it is in California then wow you are in one of the worst places to be since government has everything to do with the home prices there and not in a good way.
If you want prices to be fair you’ll have to live in a place where housing is in low demand or start voting for candidates who are more supportive of freer markets in housing and the economy, and no I am not suggesting you vote republican.
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