Welfare for the Rich: How Your Tax Dollars End Up in Millionaires' Pockets-And What You Can Do About It

by Phil Harvey, Lisa Conyers, David Boaz (Foreword by)

Overview

In today’s ultra-polarized and highly partisan political environment, Welfare for the Rich is one of the rare books written to appeal to engaged and open-minded citizens from across the political spectrum.

Welfare for the Rich is the first book to describe and analyze the many ways that federal and state governments provide handouts—subsidies, grants, tax credits, loan guarantees, price supports, and many other payouts—to millionaires, billionaires, and the companies they own and run. Many journalists, scholars, and activists have focused on one or more of these dysfunctional programs. A few of the most egregious examples have even become famous. But Welfare for the Rich is the first attempt to paint a comprehensive, easily accessible picture of a system largely designed by the richest Americans—through lobbyists, lawyers, political action committees, special interest groups, and other powerful influencers—with the specific goal of making sure the government keeps wealth and power flowing from the many to the few.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781642934144
Publisher:	Post Hill Press
Publication date:	08/04/2020
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	1,120,734
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Phil Harvey, the founder of two thriving businesses, is a philanthropist who also founded several important nonprofit organizations. He is the author of five books.

Lisa Conyers is a political consultant who focuses on economics and public policy.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Foreword David Boaz, Cato Institute xi

Introduction xv

1 Unhealthy Harvest: Millionaire Farmers and the Hand That Feeds Them 1

2 The Tariff Trap: Taxing Millions to Enrich a Few 27

3 The Sky-High Price of Big League Dreams: State Subsidies for Stadiums, Movies, and Mickey Mouse 48

4 Land of the Free? That's Not What the Zoning Laws Say 65

5 Thumbs on the Scale: How Big Businesses Tilt the Rules in Their Favor 81

6 Energy: How America's Wealthiest Industry Gets Your Tax Dollars 111

7 Grabbing the Taxpayers' Money-There's an App for That 139

8 Taxes and Tax Breaks 154

9 Do Banks Need Uncle Sam as Their Sugar Daddy? 188

10 Lobbying-The Right of Which People? 203

11 Joining Forces and Fighting Back 216

Bibliography 227

Index 275

Editorial Reviews

Welfare for the Rich masterfully documents how governments violate free market principles by passing laws that bestow special favors, subsidies, and power to the wealthy. Readers will share the righteous indignation of authors Phil Harvey and Lisa Conyers when they discover how their tax dollars are being wasted on pet projects and programs for the rich.

Scott G. Bullock

"As governor of New Mexico, I became all too familiar with government programs and policies that favored the wealthy and well-connected at taxpayer expense. Today, citizens of all political persuasions can surely agree that taxpayer money should not be channeled to those who need it least. Thanks to Phil Harvey and Lisa Conyers for demonstrating the scope of this waste.

Gary Johnson

"The political left has long demanded government intervention to reduce economic inequality. Increasingly, the political right is joining in this call. Yet as Harvey and Conyers make crystal clear, government itself is a major contributor to inequality and more government programs will only make things worse. Far better would be to heed Harvey's and Conyers's humane proposition for less government by simply eliminating the government's costly 'help-the-rich' programs."

Donald J. Boudreaux

Harvey and Conyers offer concrete, feasible, fair solutions to end the thousands of government programs that are taking from the poor to give to the rich. Welfare for the Rich is based on thorough research that will make any normal person’s blood boil, as one ripoff after another is brought to light. Get angry. And then get real. Kudos to Harvey and Conyers for offering a realistic path to an equitable and just society.

Dr. Tom G. Palmer

Conyers and Harvey describe—in infuriating detail—all the ways that the wealthy and the well-connected use the power of the state to divert your money into their pockets. This robust defense of free markets is both timely and terrifying.

Katherine Mangu-Ward