How to Fool Conservatives Into Spending Money

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

Here’s an interesting, if unsurprising, survey experiment. Brandon Bartels and Jake Haselswerdt polled a group of people to find out if they approved of a government program that would help people afford to own homes. It was presented in two different ways:

Option 1: We’re going to ask you your opinion on a government program intended to help Americans afford to own homes. Under this program, individuals who take out a mortgage to buy a home are eligible to deduct the monthly mortgage interest from their taxable income, thereby reducing their tax burden. The total savings for individuals under this program are estimated to be $94 billion for fiscal year 2011.

Option 2: We’re going to ask you your opinion on a government program intended to help Americans afford to own homes. Under this program, individuals who take out a mortgage to buy a home are eligible for a grant from the federal government to help them afford the monthly payment. The total government expenditures to individuals under this program are estimated to be $94 billion for fiscal year 2011.

A lot more people supported the tax deduction than the grant. That’s not too surprising. What’s a little more interesting, though, is that camouflaging this program as a tax deduction mostly affected conservatives. Liberals and conservatives both supported the tax deduction version at the same rate (an average of about 4.5 on a scale of 1-7), but when it was described as a grant, conservative approval plummeted while liberal approval dropped only a bit.

I suppose this isn’t all that surprising either. After all, in the modern era tax expenditures have mostly been a dodge to win conservative approval for government spending programs. Apparently it’s a pretty good dodge.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate