Ted Cruz obtains health insurance via his wife, a Goldman Sachs employee. The policy is worth about $20,000 per year. When asked about this, a Cruz spokesman said the plan “comes at no cost to the taxpayer.” As the Huffington Post points out, this isn’t true:
But, unlike with programs that do provide direct subsidies, most Americans do not think of tax credits as government benefits. Mettler’s data shows that 60 percent of people who claim the mortgage interest deduction say they “have not used a government social program.” The same is true for those who claim tax credits for child and dependent care or the Earned Income Tax Credit, or who pay into a 529 savings program for their children’s education.
Once tax credits are taken into account, the vast majority of Americans — 96 percent — has benefited from a government social program of some kind. It’s just that many of us, including perhaps Cruz, don’t always realize it.