Posted on 10/06/2011 3:47:58 AM PDT by tobyhill
Families were more dependent on government programs than ever last year.
Nearly half, 48.5%, of the population lived in a household that received some type of government benefit in the first quarter of 2010, according to Census data. Those numbers have risen since the middle of the recession when 44.4% lived households receiving benefits in the third quarter of 2008.
The share of people relying on government benefits has reached a historic high, in large part from the deep recession and meager recovery, but also because of the expansion of government programs over the years. (See a timeline on the history of government benefits programs here.)
Means-tested programs, designed to help the needy, accounted for the largest share of recipients last year. Some 34.2% of Americans lived in a household that received benefits such as food stamps, subsidized housing, cash welfare or Medicaid (the federal-state health care program for the poor).
Another 14.5% lived in homes where someone was on Medicare (the health care program for the elderly). Nearly 16% lived in households receiving Social Security.
High unemployment and increased reliance on government programs has also shrunk the nation’s share of taxpayers. Some 46.4% of households will pay no federal income tax this year, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. That’s up from 39.9% in 2007, the year the recession began.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.wsj.com ...
Let us embrace the “Kenya model “
Bump
I spent two weeks in Crete back in the 1990s, and I kept looking at the various infrastructure projects and comical view of physical labor by most Greeks....thinking there’s something wrong with this picture. I realize now...that the US has the same issues, and repeating the “Greek philosophy”. There’s probably a great book here for someone to write...how to Greek your way into debt or something.
Thanks tobyhill.
This can’t last long. Plus, how many corporations are receiving government aid?
Do you really think that Greece and Zimbabwe have the same class mobility, national values, work ethic and the same sense of social responsibility to pay taxes, as do Americans?
Oh, and how many world wars have Greece and Zimbabwe underwritten anmd sent millions to fight an die for, in the name of world peace, human rights and stability?
That depends on what you call “government aid”
Do you mean government letting corporations keep and reinvest their own already-taxed-once money?
Democrats consider reducing your taxes to be a “tax expenditure”
Take a look at the Wall Street thing. A bunch of thugs demanding more freebies and trust me, our politicians will give it to them just for a vote or two.
I’m talking about giving tax money to corporations like in Obama’s green energy scams or bailouts of banks and car companies. We should include property tax forgiveness as well.
The plan is to have the half of people not receiving government checks get taxed paying for the half getting government checks to the point where they qualify for Food Stamps.
Cain’s 9-9-9 will change that. EVERYONE will become a taxpayer.
ah, tax abatement as a form of govt aid
do you see the irony
the only problem with tax abatement is it is not across the board
Undoubtedly these are the same ones that pay no taxes yet are allowed to continue to vote for those who promise government handouts. To change this there must be a rule - NO TAXES, NO VOTE!
FUBO GTFO! 472 Days until Noon Jan 20, 2013
Don’t assume all recipients are automatic Libs. I am on Medicaid /Soc. Sec. because I have no choice. Doesn’t mean I will vote Liberal - past, present, or future.
I am not a fan of Medicaid because I think too many people scam the system at the expense of others.
“Yea, a person making $16 an hour can take home $6 an hour.”
Eventually this person figures out they can take home more on government benefits. Then they can do pick-up work on the side and pocket everything they make.
I know of people who do this.
I tried to hire a guy recently - when I refused to do so under the table, he refused to work - as he would put his unemployment in jeopardy - and he made more combining unemployment with the work he did on the side. He was quite open about it.
That’s how this crazy gravy train works - rewarding dishonesty at every turn.
It would be interesting to excise the amount that is demographic (baby boom retirees) from that which is economic. The implication by the article is the latter. The easiest way to bring that number down is by means testing Social Security.
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