Poverty, Politics and Profit

POSC 459 — Social Welfare Politics and Policy
Week 11 · Monday, November 2

PBS Frontline with NPR, 2017, 54 min.

The film follows the federal money for rent

Nearly $50 billion a year:

  • Section 8 vouchers (HUD): help paying rent
  • Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (IRS): help building
Correction: last Wednesday's slide described this film wrongly.

Film narration · Howard ch. 7, pp. 8–9

You met the tax credit in Week 7: it pays to build

IRS → states → developers → investors → apartments

  • About $10 billion a year
  • About 100,000 units a year

“‘Low-Income’ does not mean poor.”

Howard ch. 7, p. 9

Paper 4: which reform better survives its own politics?

Welfare reform (1996) or the ACA (2010)? Test case: the tax credit

  1. Who benefits?
  2. Who can see it?
  3. Who defends it?

Policy feedback: Pierson, Week 4

Quick write: four minutes

  1. One moment: who, and what they said or did
  2. Who benefits, who can see it, or who defends it?
  3. Welfare reform or the ACA: who defended it? Is the tax credit like it?

Keep it for Paper 4 and Wednesday

Who stood up for each program?

  • The tax credit: who spoke for it?
  • Section 8: who spoke for it?
  • Grassley: seven audits in 29 years

"policies also shape interest groups" (Pierson, p. 598)

Two counts of one program

Howard Film (2017)
Cost a year ~$10 billion ~$8 billion
Units a year ~100,000 70,000+ → under 59,000
Credits, 1997–2014 66% more, after inflation

Howard ch. 7, p. 9 · NPR's analysis, in the film

Wednesday: the two reforms, side by side

  • Wed 11/4: bring your quick write
  • Fri 11/6, 11:59 p.m.: Paper 4, about 600 words
  • One film moment + one reading claim, with a page number

Full prompt on Canvas · transcript on the film's PBS page