Former senator Phil Gramm (R-Tex.) insisted in his May 31 letter, “A wider view on poverty,” that poverty in the United States is much smaller than it appears because of the value of government transfers to the poor, including Medicare and Medicaid services. But he ignored the critical fact that well-off people benefit hugely from government largesse, notably the mortgage interest tax deduction, lower rates of tax on capital gains and an array of income tax deductions that only the rich can take advantage of.