Poverty, Politics, and Profit: A Documentary Analysis
Introduction
Poverty, Politics, and Profit is a documentary film focusing on a joint report by NPR and Frontline that was released in May 2017. It investigates the issue of affordable housing in America as well as why few residents get the assistance they need. However, the government took action to address the housing crisis by establishing the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) scheme, which creates houses for the poor and hence lowers rent rates.
Analysis of the Video
According to the investigation, about a quarter of the qualifying households benefit from the scheme (Schwartz, Anderson, and Floed), so the paper would include an analysis of the video Poverty, Politics, and Profit. For instance, the video is based on an investigation which is carried out in a period of nine months. It takes place from Dallas to Miami then finally in Costa Rica upscale resort. For example, inadequate housing has led to increased rent rates. According to the investigation, only a quarter of the eligible households gets help. Also, there is inseparability of housing programs and race in the United States of America. Remarkably, millions of people spend more than half of their income on rent payment. More than 2.5 million inhabitants are evicted due to the housing crisis. According to NPR and Frontline, people are still spending more money on rent despite that the government has created an initiative to produce more houses which could lead to lower rent (Schwartz, Anderson and Floed).
The Failure of the LIHTC Program
According to the investigation by Frontline, the government created LIHTC program with the aim of building houses for the underprivileged. However, due to little oversight by the federal government as well as corruption, the program has produced fewer units than the previous years despite that it costs taxpayers more than 66% in the tax credits. Based on the data provided by the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA), 70,000 housing units were produced in 1997 while 59,000 units were built in 2014 (Schwartz, Anderson and Floed). Based on the statistics, it is evident that the program is a total failure since the costs are higher than the produced houses. A decline in the number of home units built depicts that the demand for homes is greater than the supply hence creating a shortage.
Decline in Profitability and Unviability of the Program
Remarkably, the profitability of the program has declined according to tax credit industry (Schwartz, Anderson and Floed). NCSHA board member, Tingerthal admits that the program is unprofitable since it is producing fewer units than the anticipated. According to Tingerthal, production of the units in the areas with opportunity has been expensive hence fewer ones were built that resulted in small profits. Besides, stealing from the affordable housing programs has led to the production of fewer units (Schwartz, Anderson and Floed). Notably, in Miami, contractors charge more than the required amount which increases the expenses on affordable housing program. In general, the total profit reduces hence making the program unviable.
Conclusion
In summary, the video portrays an investigation of why few individuals acquire the prerequisite help on housing despite that the government spends billions of money on the poor housing program (Schwartz, Anderson and Floed). The film examines how poor people are evicted as well as how they spend approximately half of their income to acquire house rent despite substantial contribution towards the housing program through tax payment. Also, the documentary shows how the federal government is reluctant in following the housing program expenditure hence the program designed to aid the needy with rent is not working as expected (Schwartz, Anderson and Floed). Finally, the video portrays that the program is unfeasible since it has led to less supply of houses than expected despite the government subsidy.
Work Cited
Schwartz Emma, Meg Anderson & Jerrel Floed. “Poverty, Politics, and Profit: How we did the Math” Frontline. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/poverty-politics-and-profit-how-we-did-the-math/. Accessed 17 June 2017.
