COSM’s commentary page is home to timely analysis of pressing topics.
It must be viewed as courageous for Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner to announce an investigation of Wells Fargo for alleged racial bias in mortgage lending—bias that favors minority buyers. The bank, after all, had said as much when it described its initiative in 2022 as one that…
October 14, 2026 | By Howard Husock
AI in health care promises greater efficiency, but only if it balances the objective knowledge of the physician with the subjective wisdom of the patient.
October 5, 2026 | By Brent Orrell
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders released an ad this week about “Brad,” a fictional character who “has turned relaxing into a full-time profession,” that is, snacking in front of the television and playing video games. In the ad, Governor Sanders suggests that it is unfair to ask hardworking taxpayers to…
October 1, 2026 | By Kevin Corinth
In 1964, when Congress passed the Food Stamp Act, the country faced a problem of inadequate nutrition among low-income Americans due to insufficient food. In response, the Food Stamp Program—today known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—was created. Sixty years later, the nation faces a very different challenge. While…
September 29, 2026 | By Angela Rachidi
Last week’s annual Census Bureau poverty report offered encouraging news about growing US incomes and declining poverty in 2025. As the Bureau’s press release highlighted, real median household income reached “$87,460 in 2025, the highest on record dating back to 1967.” Meanwhile, according to the nation’s official poverty measure (OPM)…
September 23, 2026 | By Matt Weidinger
A new Department of Housing and Urban Development rule gives directors of public housing authorities hope that they will be able to aid their tenants through the dignity of work.
September 17, 2026 | By Howard Husock
Trump's dividend check announcement is set to be one of many in a long line of failed benefit promises.
September 17, 2026 | By Matt Weidinger
Medicaid work requirements go into effect across the country on January 1, 2027. Work requirements have previously been applied to cash welfare and food assistance programs. But with the exception of a couple of demonstration programs, they have not previously been applied to Medicaid, a much larger program providing health…
September 15, 2026 | By Kevin Corinth
Last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) gave states a choice: Either limit improper payments in their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, the program formerly known as food stamps) or start sharing in the cost of paying for those benefits, which were previously covered entirely by the federal government….
September 15, 2026 | By Matt Weidinger and Angela Rachidi
For the first time in the history of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), starting in FY2028 states will be liable for a share of SNAP benefit costs. Each state’s cost share will range from 0% to 15% and will depend on its payment error rate. However, as I pointed…
August 19, 2026 | By Kevin Corinth
October 22, 2026 | Brent Orrell and Keith Humphreys
Thirty years ago this summer, the sociologist William Julius Wilson published When Work Disappears, in which he attributed high unemployment in urban, largely Black neighborhoods to structural changes in the economy. Conservatives dismissed his argument, contending instead that the problem was a poor work ethic enabled by a welfare system...
October 21, 2026 | Kevin Corinth
Medicaid is getting a justified makeover on Jan. 1, when most states will begin implementing a work requirement as a condition of receiving benefits. The roughly trillion-dollar safety-net program had grown beyond its original purpose when legislatures chose to expand coverage to non-disabled working-age adults — many of whom don’t...
October 21, 2026 | Tobias Peter and Edward J. Pinto
October 20, 2026 | Kevin Corinth
In the District of Columbia, a family with a federally funded housing voucher can rent a one-bedroom apartment for up to $3,768, a two-bedroom unit for up to $4,200, a three-bedroom unit for up to $5,301, and a four-bedroom unit for up to $6,231 per month. These payment standards are...