“I heard the other day that 70,000,000 Americans are getting a check from the Federal Government.”
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I assume you are including social security, which is not a handout.
I agree, however, there are plenty of bums that are on the dole, and having been out of the US since 2004, I have failed to see how low the society has sunken.
I just now installed satellite US TV, with FOX news, and I really see the change from when I left.
It now looks like something out of a horror film.
On another note, if you really want to see the real dregs of society in America, check out the “Topix” US forums.
It is a real cross section of the red diaper doper babies.
It seems to be mostly kids, seeing who can out-insult each
other.
Apparently these Section Eight renters are only paying $40/month against $900/month in rent. The balance is paid by TAXPAYERS (aka "you and me").
Such a burden will quickly destroy any nation. ($860/month is a lot to pay for a couple of lousy votes if you ask me!)
And now we get to the crux of the matter.
Despite what the politicians of both parties have told you it most assuredly is. And so is Medicare. Here is the sad reality.
The FICA and Medicare payroll taxes are just that, taxes. Like the income tax and the capital gains tax. They are not insurance premiums, payments on a pre-paid health plan or premiums on an annuity. They are just taxes. And the politicians have spent these tax revenues over the years just like they have spent the income and capital gains tax revenues.
And checks sent to Social Security recipients and Medicare beneficiaries are government expenditures just like buying aircraft carriers and giving food stamps to people. But way too many Americans have been duped into thinking otherwise. But the truth is now revealed because the revenues raised by the payroll taxes are now less than the expenditures necessary to cover the promises to the beneficiaries. This is a cold, hard fact. No amount of wanting, wishing, lying, anger or recriminations can change these facts.
So the Federal government is going to default. But it is not going to default on the bond holders. It is going to default on the middle class beneficiaries of Social Security and Medicare. There is no alternative.
Social Security not a handout?
The first recipient, Ida May Fuller, paid a little under $25 over the course of her working life.
During the course of her retirement, she collected over $22000.
She's an extreme case, but most people who have been retired for a few years collect back everything they paid in the first two or three years of their retirement.
After that, it's most assuredly a handout.