Daily Digest – January 29: Without Food Stamps, How Many Kids Would Go Hungry?

Census Says 16m U.S. Children are Living on Food Stamps, Double the Number in 2007 (The Guardian)

One in five American children would go hungry without food stamps, writes Jana Kasperkevic, which makes continued Republican efforts to cut the program especially worrying.

The Tax Loophole (Almost) Everyone Should Want to Close (Medium)

James Kwak breaks down the step-up in basis for capital gains loophole and why he thinks it ought to be eliminated: because it’s strange that our system rewards dying with unsold assets.

• Roosevelt Take: In his white paper on tax reform, Roosevelt Institute Chief Economist Joseph Stiglitz also argues against this loophole.

Fed Says It Will Be Patient in Raising Interest Rates, Citing ‘Solid’ Growth (NYT)

Binyamin Appelbaum reports on the Federal Reserve’s latest statement and what it will mean for raising interest rates. At this point, rates won’t be raised until at least June.

Don’t Mess With Government Giveaways to the Well-Off (WaPo)

Paul Waldman says the uproar over a suggested change to 529 college savings plans shows which welfare programs are safest: those that are open to all, but give most of their financial benefits to the upper-middle class.

Subprime Bonds Are Back With Different Name Seven Years After U.S. Crisis (Bloomberg Business)

Now called “nonprime” mortgage bonds, Jody Shenn says that this time the investment firms that originate the deals plan to retain the bulk of the risk instead of shifting it to other parties.

Obama Is Finally Getting Credit for the Recovery (TNR)

Danny Vinik says that the Republican arguments claiming the recovery happened in spite of the president’s policies are falling apart, leaving no other option but to give him credit.

‘Housing First’ Policy for Addressing Homelessness Hamstrung By Funding Issues (TAP)

Rachel M. Cohen says that “housing first” policies are pretty clearly a more effective way to fight homelessness, but without sufficient funding and housing stock, can’t be fully put into action.