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21 Facts That Prove That Government Dependence Is Out Of Control In America

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Michael Snyder of The End of The American Dream blog,

If you could stay home and watch television, play video games and hang out with your friends all day at government expense, would you do it?  Of course most Americans that collect money from the government each month are not abusing the system.  Many truly are incapable of taking care of themselves, and others are just receiving government benefits (such as Social Security) that they feel that they have earned by a lifetime of hard work.  But with each passing year the number of Americans jumping on board “the safety net” continues to grow rapidly, and a lot of these people should be able to take care of themselves.  Today, the American people collectively receive more money from the government than they pay in taxes.  And remember, the federal government uses our money to build roads, inspect our food and fund the military as well.  So what does this say about our economy?  Could it survive without all of these debt-fueled transfer payments?  And what does this say about our society?  At one time, our nation was known for our work ethic.  What would our forefathers say about us today?  The following are 21 facts that prove that dependence on the government is out of control in America…

1. According to a Congressional Budget Office study that was just released, approximately 60 percent of all U.S. households get more in transfer payments from the government than they pay in taxes.  Here is more about this stunning report from Mark J. Perry’s Carpe Diem blog

Some additional analysis and commentary will be provided here that reveal a yet-to-be discussed major implication of the CBO report – almost the entire burden: a) of all transfer payments made to American households and b) of all non-financed government spending, falls on just one group of Americans – the top one-fifth of US households by income. That’s correct, the CBO study shows that the bottom three income quintiles representing 60% of US households are “net recipients” (they receive more in transfer payments than they pay in federal taxes), the second-highest income quintile pays just slightly more in federal taxes ($14,800) than it receives in government transfer payments ($14,100), while the top 20% of American “net payer” households finance 100% of the transfer payments to the bottom 60%, as well as almost 100% of the tax revenue collected to run the federal government. Here are the details of that analysis.

 

cbo1

 

The figures in Row 6 in the table above (and displayed in the graph above) show the amount of federal taxes paid by the average household in each income quintile minus the average amount of government transfers received by those households in 2011. For each of the three lower income quintiles, their average government transfer payments exceeded their federal taxes paid by $8,600, $12,500, and $9,100 respectively, and therefore the entire bottom 60% of US households are “net recipients” of government transfer payments.

2. About 70 percent of all government spending now goes toward dependence-creating programs.

3. From 2009 through 2013, the U.S. government spent a whopping 3.7 trillion dollars on welfare programs.

4. The percentage of the U.S. population that gets money from the federal government grew by an astounding 62 percent between 1988 and 2011.

5. According to an analysis of U.S. government numbers conducted by Terrence P. Jeffrey, there are 86 million full-time private sector workers in the United States paying taxes to support the government, and nearly 148 million Americans that are receiving benefits from the government each month.

6. According to the Survey of Income and Program Participation conducted by the U.S. Census, well over 100 million Americans are enrolled in at least one welfare program run by the federal government.  Sadly, that figure does not even include Social Security or Medicare.

7. Currently, there are somewhere around 40 million senior citizens in the United States.  By 2050, that number is projected to skyrocket to 89 million.  Supporting all of those senior citizens is going to be extraordinarily expensive.

8. Right now, more than 64 million Americans are receiving Social Security benefits.

9. Right now, more than 54 million Americans are enrolled in Medicare.

10. Right now, more than 70 million Americans are enrolled in Medicaid.

11. The number of Americans enrolled in the Social Security disability program now exceeds the entire population of the state of Virginia.

12. If the number of Americans on Social Security disability were gathered into a separate state, it would be the 8th largest state in the entire country.

13. In 1968, there were 51 full-time workers for every American on disability.  Today, there are just 13 full-time workers for every American on disability.

14. At this point, the federal government runs about 80 different “means-tested welfare programs”, and almost all of those programs have experienced substantial growth in recent years.

15. The number of Americans on food stamps has grown from 17 million in the year 2000 to more than 46 million today.

16. Ten years ago, the number of women in the U.S. that had jobs outnumbered the number of women in the U.S. on food stamps by more than a 2 to 1 margin.  But now the number of women in the U.S. on food stamps actually exceeds the number of women that have jobs.

17. Back in the 1970s, about one out of every 50 Americans was on food stamps.  Today, about one out of every 6.5 Americans is on food stamps.

18. Today, the number of Americans on food stamps exceeds the entire population of the nation of Spain.

19. According to one calculation, the number of Americans on food stamps now exceeds the combined populations of “Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.”

20. According to a report from the Center for Immigration Studies, 43 percent of all immigrants that have been in the United States for at least 20 years are still on welfare.

21. Most Americans are not earning enough to support themselves and their families without government help anymore.  The following are some statistics about wages in the U.S. from a Social Security Administration report that was recently released

-39 percent of American workers made less than $20,000 last year.

-52 percent of American workers made less than $30,000 last year.

-63 percent of American workers made less than $40,000 last year.

-72 percent of American workers made less than $50,000 last year.

In order to have a middle class, you have got to have middle class jobs, and those are disappearing from our system very rapidly.

As a result, the number of people that are financially independent continues to drop.

So what will the future look like?

Will the government eventually have to take care of almost all of us?

 

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Wed, 11/19/2014 - 19:41 | 5467576 LawsofPhysics
LawsofPhysics's picture

Are you suggesting those "highest quintile folks" have not benefitted from Central Bank printing government BAILOUTS or the ZIRP that central banks continue to practice?

Please, try to think a bit more critically.  Retribution is gonna be fun when all those paper receipts start chasing real assets in earnest.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:03 | 5467600 lordylord
lordylord's picture

"Please, try to think a bit more critically"

Couldn't get passed item #1, huh?  What about the other 20? Care to disprove the thesis of the article or are you just going to shit post? 

Yes the top .1% get more governent welfare than anybody, but the majority of that top quintile probably don't deserve their hard earned money stolen. 

End the welfare state for poor and rich alike.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:36 | 5467755 PT
PT's picture

Sorry, my mind's wandering a bit today.  I found it hard to get through the article.  Was it 21 facts or was it 21 different ways of stating the same 3 facts?

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:49 | 5467774 GeorgeWKush
GeorgeWKush's picture

Funny that first graph. Why could it be that low income are so much on the negative side? Could it be because in socialist America everyone gets benefits no matter how lazy, or could it be because in fascist America people working their heads off at the service of mega corporations get paid in pennies (and subsequently taxed in pennies) and thus cannot survive without substantial help?

Amazingly, some people manage to bet on the wrong answer.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 21:18 | 5467884 PT
PT's picture

It's supposed to be low income on the negative side, otherwise something would be wrong.  That is how welfare is supposed to work.  The main problem, as pointed out by the graph, is that a lot of low and not-so-low income earners pay negative tax.  Welfare should be for those unemployed or part-time income, not for low income and not-so-low income full-time workers.  Why re-circulate tax?  i.e. why tax someone just so you can give the money back to them?  Every time you do that you waste a portion of the money in administrative costs.

Then, of course, you have the inflation aspect.  What are the govt subsidies really doing?  Are they helping the poor to survive or are they simply just pushing prices up so nothing is affordable unless you have the subsidies?  Does rent assistance stop the poor from being homeless or does it push up the price of rent for everyone?  Who is the ultimate welfare recipient - the welfare momma or her landlord?  A bunch of tradies congratulate themselves on being good little capitalists while building homes that are sold to a landlord that rents them out to people who can only afford to live there due to govt subsidies.  Sure, the tradies worked for their pay but you still gotta laugh that ultimately they get their pay from the govt handouts they despise.

I've seen long-term unemployed people who live in nicer houses than the working poor and drive cars while the working poor do without.  How did that happen?  That's why, as I mentioned below, I'd like to see a better breakdown of all the bennies, how they are structured (grant, loan, or loan on paper that in reality never gets paid back with no negative consequences? ) and who they are to whom they are really available.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 21:37 | 5467928 Escrava Isaura
Escrava Isaura's picture

 

 

“As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.” -- Andrew Carnegie


Thu, 11/20/2014 - 01:04 | 5468520 The9thDoctor
The9thDoctor's picture

In order to have a middle class, you have got to have middle class jobs, and those are disappearing from our system very rapidly.

I noticed this article critiqued government dependence but not corporate dependence.  In order to be middle class you need a Just Over Broke. 

"Without even entering into the question of the world economy’s ultimate dictation within narrow limits of everybody’s productive activity, it’s apparent that the source of the greatest direct duress experienced by the ordinary adult is not the state but rather the business that employs him. Your foreman or supervisor gives you more or-else orders in a week than the police do in a decade."

-Quote by Bob Black

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 02:39 | 5468667 Son of Loki
Son of Loki's picture

The numbers above may skyrocket next week after Barry legalizes somewhere betwen 5 and 11 million illegals when he dictates his executive order in his speech this Friday in LV I read.

 

... rumor has it ....

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 03:34 | 5468727 JamesBond
JamesBond's picture

What they should have earned was a return of between 4% to 7% on their social security deductions - period -  no more - and a handshake on the way out the door; now go help some kid learn to read.

 

 

 

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 06:31 | 5468853 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

"The Bell Curve", by Herrstein and Murray, informed the reader that the Welfare State needed transformation to the Custodial State. pp. 523-526

 

In order to do that they had to eviscerate the Middle Class to the state of dependency...job...or no job.

 

The Corporate "Dependence" is no more than a raid on the Public Treasury in order to collapse the United States from within so the Corporations take control. That is a seizure of power.

 

Of course anybody who has bought stocks in these Corporations has tendered support for the implementation of these policies outlined in "The Bell Curve" as FINANCIAL SUPPORT IS SUPPORT.

 

This transformation to the Custodial State is near completion.

 

And you actually support this development per your previous posts about Stock Market investment. (There are alternative reasons for buying Gold than profiteering. Gold is the passport to Liberty and Freedom, Ivy Leaguer)

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 03:51 | 5468741 zerohedgejjxxzz12
zerohedgejjxxzz12's picture

 Gov Money is never wasted, or wasted in administartion costs, it pays the gov's friends, and family members, wages, benifits and pensions. /sarc

the US can just keep printing, they have the press, when these guys get out of politics their coffers will be so full and the problems will belong to some other politician.

rinse repeat

 

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:57 | 5467819 PT
PT's picture

While I'm here, I would like to see a breakdown of where all that welfare money goes.  How many low income single people pay less tax than they receive?  Families?  Single, unemployed with mortgage vs rent vs single income family vs double income family vs unemployed single head of family vs all combinations and permuations of single, married, kids, no kids, mortgage, renting.  I'm betting there's a HUGE variation of bennies available within each category.

You got the story of the single mothers with the expensive cars.  We have a similar thing over in my country.  Now I know damn well that if I sign up for the dole, I won't be qualifying for one of those things, so what does it take to qualify?  Is it a grant?  Is it a loan?  Is it a loan that conveniently never gets collected but the paperwork keeps you liable?

In my country, the dole can pay for food, as long as you don't have a mortgage, but some people manage to survive long term on the dole.  This suggests some kind of rental subsidy.  You guys got one of them?  How does it work?

I'd like to see a breakdown of your ( and our ) housing welfare.  Using all the permutations I mentioned above, how much is loans and how much is grants?  Rentals, assisted rentals, mortgage assistance, "shared loans" (where the repayments are extra low and in return the govt takes part ownership of your house and recoups the loss when you sell).  Where does all the dollars go and how much is "given" dollars and how much is "lent" dollars?

Oh yeah, and what % goes into administrative costs?

Any help answering these qs would be much appreciated.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 01:00 | 5468509 sun tzu
sun tzu's picture

As usual , people miss the point. There are srrious structural problem with both the economy and the welfare system when 12% of the population depends on the government for the bare necessities. First, it show there are not enough decent jobs. Second, it show way too many are able to abuse the system. Welfare is supposed to be a safety net,  not a career. The same goes for QE and corporate welfare. What happens when the welfare prorrams can no longer be funded? You will have tens of millions who cannot feed themselves

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 02:57 | 5468688 Nobody For President
Nobody For President's picture

So Sun, you aare saying the welfare system is broken?

Duh. The health care system is broken. The court systems are broken. The Legal system is broken. The Justice system is broken. The Electoral System is broken.

The War on Poverty, The War on Drugs, and the War on Terrorism have all been lost, along with the 1st, 2nd, and 4th Amendments to the Constitution.

And what really pisses me off is that I have four grandchildren that are inheiriting this mess.

 

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 09:55 | 5469231 LawsofPhysics
LawsofPhysics's picture

Don't worry lordylord, that which cannot be sustained, won't be.  Exactly my point end all welfare.  If you don't work, you don't eat.  Rich or poor.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 19:47 | 5467604 philipat
philipat's picture

As Margaret Thatcher once famously said; "The problem with socialism is that, eventually, you run out of other peoples' money".

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 19:56 | 5467625 silverserfer
silverserfer's picture

were not in a functioning socialist society, is facism. and the money printers print whatever they need to to preserve their power. taxes and fiscal responsibility would only matter if the we were not in the late stages of a massive ponzi scheme.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:03 | 5467647 DFCtomm
DFCtomm's picture

They have worked to circument an important feedback mechanism provided by increasing taxes to pay for programs.  Both political parties know they could never get the working class to agree to the taxes needed for this level of government services, so they've put it on the card, and the working class tax payer won't get the opportunity to complain until the money is already spent and they hand him the bill.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:13 | 5467685 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Well, accepting the responsibility for the bill is a completely different topic...lol.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:15 | 5467689 silverserfer
silverserfer's picture

see my comment below about diffrent taxes that we all pay. They have imbedded the taxes into every single fucking thing we do and consume. I 'm pretty sure that we pay taxes to take a shit also. 

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:28 | 5467730 DFCtomm
DFCtomm's picture

I agree that a great effort has been made to hide much of the tax burder placed on the citizen, however it's obvious from the debt that it still hasn't been enough, and more flesh is required.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 22:37 | 5468101 brown_hornet
brown_hornet's picture

I do pay 30-35 dollars a month to the Salt Creek Sanitary Disrict

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 10:07 | 5469304 woody188
woody188's picture

The guy that pumps my septic used to dump it on his land as fertilizer. The government told him he couldn't do that, so now he charges $30 extra to pump it into their waste treatment system, which eventually dumps in the river. I think the old way was better, and easier on the river, and the towns downstream. This is commonplace and considered "sanitary" but isn't really, and our waterways are now full of estrogen from birth control pill and also ibuprofen that hasn't processes in our bodies and is released in the urine.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 19:59 | 5467639 JohnFrodo
JohnFrodo's picture

What you fail to observe is that the best countries in the world to actually live in are all socialist, Germany, Singapore, Canada, Austrilia.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:06 | 5467657 bh2
bh2's picture

They also aren't funding and fielding a military establishment larger than the entire rest of the world combined.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 23:08 | 5468212 Abbie Normal
Abbie Normal's picture

So why do we need to?

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 03:38 | 5468731 JamesBond
JamesBond's picture

also warum müssen wir?

There's your answer.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 03:48 | 5468738 TeethVillage88s
TeethVillage88s's picture

Warum Sagen Sie?

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:19 | 5467695 Pool Shark
Pool Shark's picture

 

 

They are also countries with relatively homogenous populations with shared values, culture and a history of a work ethic.

Socialism; like Democracy, only works for a moral, industrious people...

 

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:31 | 5467736 DFCtomm
DFCtomm's picture

A perfect people need no government at all.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 21:37 | 5467927 PT
PT's picture

Yeah they do, to protect themselves from the imperfect people that have the huge military muscle.

Although I do hear that you can fight that with free land packages ...

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 06:36 | 5468861 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

(???)

 

Why did you just not retort that there are no perfect people anywhere thus his argument is a Hopium Pipedream and moot?

 

Or are you also dreaming of these mythical perfect people also?

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 07:47 | 5468931 DFCtomm
DFCtomm's picture

The point is that government is not a universal constant. You could probably stand a lot less of it and do just fine.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 08:10 | 5468963 PT
PT's picture

Yas both gave perfect replies to my comment.  I'm in awe.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 10:06 | 5469274 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

I am well aware of Civil Disobedience. It is a classic.

 

But the people are not anywhere ready for that. They want to follow the suicidal psychopaths to their own demise.

 

The problem herein lies in the nature of the Herd Mentality.

 

We were born as Herd Animals and it is hardwired in the DNA to follow the alpha male.

 

You cannot change Nature or the Laws of Nature. They are immutable and inviolable.

 

Perhaps in another 100,000 years, maybe that will be bred out.

 

But at this rate we're are going I would not count on the Human Race lasting that long.

 

Oh I agree that no Government is ideal. But I live in reality.

 

The best that you can hope to do is take care of yourself and your progeny.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 16:54 | 5471003 DFCtomm
DFCtomm's picture

You know which state of the union address achieved the highest Flesch-Kincaid readability test score? It was 1815. Everyone acts like an animal if they aren't taught not to.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 08:48 | 5469047 overmedicatedun...
overmedicatedundersexed's picture

fiat is worthless paper (it is). business is evil, wealth is evil, labor is exploited, as clinton the younger stated "she does not think about money"...why not take the .gov cheese? doing otherwise is obviously evil and futile.

we live in the  west in a post work world..where mega corps and mega banks own us all, and .gov goons see to it that control and order is maintained, while bread and circus keep us docile.

our (my) problem is worthwhile work, jobs, goals & hopes have become a negative thing an illusion built on a fake economy run by fake leadership, corrupt pols and banks.

find useful work, do it and ignore the rest..No work no eat.

 

 

 

 

 

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 21:33 | 5467918 PT
PT's picture

Our (Aust) govt is working very hard to try and "fix" that "flaw" ...

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:18 | 5467697 seek
seek's picture

All with massive deficits as well -- holding them up as shining examples to duplicate is a red herring, they're going down with everyone else. The only real viable country with socialist policies is Norway, which has no deficit due to massive oil income.

If you print to cover a deficit, your country is doomed, what it goes to pay for is immaterial. The fundamental problem with most socialist policies is paying for them; pull it off with a balanced budget and it's workable. The problem with that is the tax burden becomes so high if the benefits are good that no one wants to work (tragedy of the commons) and the burden asymptotically increases until it falls apart -- the exact phase the US has been entering..

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:32 | 5467743 A Lunatic
A Lunatic's picture

Looks like we need to pass a law that forces everyone above age 16 to have a job. The Freedom to Work Law or something catchy like that. Of course we will have to pass it in order to see what's in it, but I'm sure the Union execs that write it up will be very open and transparent with the whole process.......

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 23:58 | 5468360 lunaticfringe
lunaticfringe's picture

Very nice my brother.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 07:41 | 5468927 Cloud9.5
Cloud9.5's picture

Just bust him with a dime bag and then you can put him in a slave labor camp.  Problem solved.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 21:01 | 5467834 gwar5
gwar5's picture

Socialism is for idiots. East Germany was also socialist and look how they did compared to West Germany -- same people, different systems, drastically different outcomes. Same result with North Korea and South Korea -- same people, different systems, drastically different outcomes. West is using Keynesian economics to fake it and make it last longer.

 

Greece, Spain, France, are all socialist and failing so bady that Germany, Finland, and fellow less stressed socialist countries are balking at expanding socialism to bail out fellow welfare state EU nations because they know it's all an unsustainable Ponzi scheme that is just going to collapse them faster, too.

All the countries you mention are essentially homogenous societies that subsidize their socialism thru free market selling of resources or products and by the USA paying for half of their national defense expenses for them (2.5% vs 5%) thru life under the US umbrella. Without that margin they'd all be in the hurt locker already.

The USA is increasingly NOT allowed to sell it's vast resources to help pay for social welfare programs, yet keeps adding massive entitlements and millions of illegals. A failed outcome is guaranteed.

Norway, the Saudis of Scandanavia, sells billions in oil for their population of only 5 million people to pay for all their shit but give awards to fellow frauds like Al Gore for ranting against the 'evil' fossil fuels.

Singapore, less dependent on USA, is very homogenous city-state of 5.5 milliion joyless automatons getting their trickled down money from banking and China shipping. In their little slice of utopia, possessing over an ounce of pot is a mandatory death sentence and a positive urine test for pot is 10 years, and you don't get to choose where you live; the government chooses your apartment for you, unless you have money like Jim Rogers. 

 

 

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 22:56 | 5467997 GoinFawr
GoinFawr's picture

Good ghod, where does a rational person start with such a wretched, steaming, pile of conditioned rote?

 

tommy douglas and the CCF ran 17 (count 'em seventeen) consecutive surplus budgets while successfully introducing single payer health care with 'universal'coverage, in a province with one of the most diverse populations in North America. I think that level of fiscal responsibility is a fucking 20th century record, worldwide.

lol,and here's what a decade of 'unsustainable ponzi' looks like for Norway's national balance sheet:http://www.finfacts.ie/artman/uploads/3/Norway-sovereign-fund-Oct202010....

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/may/27/debt-deficit-oecd-c...

But nice strawman re:where that money comes from. Instead of holding their noses and trying to behave responsibly, they should have, what?, turned them up and just handed out all that wealth to you, right? Because it's just a ghod given fact that private ownership of non renewable resources is always always always better.. for some ONE.

"East Germany was socialist" <facepalm> really? Pull the other one! And you believe Stalin was a dyed in the wool 'communist' too, I suppose? Sen.McArthur called: he wants his Webster's Collegiate dictionary back. You and the rest of the echochambermaidens deserve new aprons for your unceasing sophomoric misnomers.

Please allow me to help you to understand (I can draw a picture if the following is still difficult for you):

Socialism seeks to empower labour. Fascism seeks, by any means, to entrench a plutocracy.  Anyone who tells you anything else is selling skittle shitting unicorns, or feeding you to them.

"The USA is increasingly NOT allowed to sell it's vast resources to help pay for social welfare programs, yet keeps adding massive entitlements and millions of illegals. A failed outcome is guaranteed."

Wait, are you suggesting a better outcome if the US had embraced fiscally responsible socialism, rather than plutocrat worship? Canada/America/Uk? Oh yeah, they're proper fucked now, but certainly not because of anything close to what you and the rest of the Osh Kosch By Goch's useful idiot cheerleading squad constantly misrepresent as 'socialism'.


Wed, 11/19/2014 - 23:05 | 5468201 JohnFrodo
JohnFrodo's picture

Thank you for pointing out there is a spectrum of ism"s left to right  Communism, Socialism Capitalism Facism. I have also coined a new one that will replace all the other soon  Preperationalism.

Stalin may have used the goverment in a facist manner but was the total oppostite. Whats going on in China is a better example of communist facism.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 00:50 | 5468501 sun tzu
sun tzu's picture

Norway is a tiny country with huge oil resources to fund its socialist programs. Great example.

Fri, 11/21/2014 - 17:29 | 5469951 GoinFawr
GoinFawr's picture

Nice apron.

'exampleS'; you mean.

The US, for example, is ~60 times the population of Norway and is (or was, before they/you allowed it to be actually stolen by a handful of international plutocrats) >>60 times richer in natural resources.

"scalability", you should look it up sometime, it might be important.

Grrrrrreat point Tiger

PS Gwart:

Meant McCarthy, not the hockey player.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 00:48 | 5468495 sun tzu
sun tzu's picture

Those are all quasi socialist countries where private businesses and people who work fund the socialism. You see, the government has no money except for what it forcibly takes from its citizens.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 16:01 | 5469977 GoinFawr
GoinFawr's picture

If (and that's one big 'if' considering roughly 80% of their eligible electorate routinely volunteers to provide a mandate) the Norwegian gov't is 'stealing' that oil wealth from its citizens, who are the lucky ducks receiving the lion's share of the benefits of that 'theft' exactly, I wonders?

Hint: It's certainly not internationally connected foreign creditors...or their MIC.Think closer to home (theirs)

Those sure are some fancy Osh Kosch B' Goch pom poms you're waving around; you'd think your arms would be tired after all these years of flogging that same dead horse.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 04:03 | 5468755 zerohedgejjxxzz12
zerohedgejjxxzz12's picture

Canada's medical system is run by the gov with wage caps.

 We lose a lot of Dr's to the US for momey, but not everyone wants to live their.

We do not force people to purchase medical care, nor do we force you to purchase it from a private company. it's a no brainer why it costs so much south of the 49th.

 it seems everyone in the us system is on the take!

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:02 | 5467645 cornflakesdisease
cornflakesdisease's picture

She forgot to explain the part about flushing money down the toilet of war and weapons that get mothballed.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 21:39 | 5467907 GoinFawr
GoinFawr's picture

Re: Maggie Thatcher bloviations

So just who are these poor, woebegotten 'other's that those pinko Norwegians are stealing their oil money from anyway?

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 21:32 | 5467912 PT
PT's picture

Don't kid yourself.  Half the "socialism" comes in the form of loans that have to be paid back, or has other strings attached.

A large portion of the "socialism" directly translates to higher profits to corporations.
A large portion of the "socialism" is structured so that TPTB can gain control of everything.  Housing grants push up the price of housing for everyone.  Poor people pay too much and go broke or else do without.  Welfare idiots buy housing in "govt partnerships" where the govt takes part ownership of the home - eventually they'll own all the land.

"Socialism" is the propaganda that they use to sell the theft.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 22:06 | 5467959 PT
PT's picture

Once TPTB own everything, they'll be happy to relieve themselves of the burden of looking after a few million welfare leeches.  I think that will be the mechanism that will lead to everyone's much beloved anarchy - but it won't quite be the uptopia anyone expected - even TPTB will learn the hard way.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 19:57 | 5467633 DFCtomm
DFCtomm's picture

They most certainly have, but that's what people don't realize. The top is benefitting and the bottom is benefitting, but not the middle. The top has bribed the bottom with the wealth of the middle. The rich and the poor are allies in a war against the working class.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 21:52 | 5467964 PT
PT's picture

Almost.  The top is using the bottom to steal everything from the middle (and the bottom).

Once the top own everything, they'll have no use for the bottom.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 00:09 | 5468392 Brutlstrudl
Brutlstrudl's picture

Once the top own everything, they'll have no use for the bottom

 

So who's gonna clean up the blood, baby?

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:09 | 5467670 seek
seek's picture

Actually, only the very top of the highest quintile have seen net worth expand. The Fed's own studies show that the bottom half of the top quintile (e.g. the 80-90% segment declined from 2010 to 2013 (as did the net worth of everyone below them) but the net worth of the top 10% expanded by 10%.

The Fed doesn't show the sub-splits of the top 10%, but from income tax returns, it's very obvious that most of the expansion happened in thetop 0.1-0.01%. ZIRP and bailouts primarily helped the super wealthy and virtually no one else, including the majority of the top quintile.

I do agree, though, when those 0.01%ers are staring at wealth vaporization, we're going to see some pretty crazy shit go down, probably with a paid-for congress passing laws to maintain their wealth followed by unimagined and unintended consequences.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:16 | 5467688 DFCtomm
DFCtomm's picture

We are about to enter a world where all the old rules break, and "unintended consequences" will be an understatement.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 21:26 | 5467898 gimme-gimme-gimme
gimme-gimme-gimme's picture

Once you factor in all the corporate subsidies, and corporate tax breaks that provide no benefit to the economy and factor in all the money that was wasted on QE -- it becomes 21 useless facts that are small drops in a very large bucket.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 22:08 | 5467996 Quantum Nucleonics
Quantum Nucleonics's picture

The welfare state gets WAY more $$$ from the government than were spread around to your favorite banks.  Don't get me wrong, I hate bailouts, ZIRP, and QE (the later two being a form of the former), but come on, welfare is orders of magnitude more than corporate bailouts.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 06:49 | 5468870 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

Corporate Welfare is not just restricted to the Banks and the current Financial Crisis.

 

How many times have you spent $600 for a Toilet Seat?

 

How many times has the US Military spent $600 for a Toilet Seat or did NASA spend $100,000 for a cordless Makita Drill?

 

Corporate Welfare is ENDEMIC within the Defense Industry and it has been that way for the past 60 YEARS at least.

 

Have you ever asked yourself why the Military eats up 20% to 35% of the National Budget ANNUALLY?

 

Whom are we fighting where such resourses are needed to engage in Hot War.

 

We are running a World War Wartime Budget in a time of relative peace. May God forbid that there is a World War as we will not be able to finance one.

 

So BULLSHIT.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 09:25 | 5469110 Pee Wee
Pee Wee's picture

I dont understand the negatives.  I can summarize the total abolition of financial justice in one acronym.

TARP.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 19:38 | 5467577 reTARD
reTARD's picture

The thumbnail is so true. From now on I shall refer to the 4th of July as "Dependence Day."

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 19:52 | 5467608 philipat
philipat's picture

And Presidents Day as "The Entitlleist Holiday"?

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 19:44 | 5467591 i_call_you_my_base
i_call_you_my_base's picture

Here is the truth: all animals are naturally lazy. it's about energy preservation. Nearly all energy expenditure is devoted to acquiring food or keeping a mate. And acquiring a mate has a lot to do with everything.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 19:44 | 5467592 blindman
blindman's picture

the fore fathers, with the exception of hamilton,
would have executed the banksters as quisling, no?
just a guess.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:22 | 5467707 Pool Shark
Pool Shark's picture

 

 

God Bless Aaron Burr!

 

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 09:28 | 5469130 Pee Wee
Pee Wee's picture

If ISIS knifed banker throats in a bathtub I might actually watch.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 19:49 | 5467605 blindman
Wed, 11/19/2014 - 19:49 | 5467606 lasvegaspersona
lasvegaspersona's picture

40 million seniors but 64 million on Soc Sec and 54 million on Medicare??? How does that add up? dependents? disability?

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:05 | 5467654 Wilcox1
Wilcox1's picture

yep

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:07 | 5467659 gwar5
gwar5's picture

It's the new welare, can get them by sneezing.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:56 | 5467818 Nondrone 99
Nondrone 99's picture

People whose health is so bad they are deemed 100% disabled are eligible for Medicare.This includes individuals who are bedridden,full retards,individuals who rate 80% visual impairment,individuals who are wheelchair bound and individuals who suffer severe and debilitating chronic illnesses such as full blown AIDS,cancer or chronic renal,heart or liver disease.Medicare recipients make monthly payments while Medicaid recipients do not,although both programs require copays for some services and medications.You have to be a basket case to get on Medicare before age 65.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 22:12 | 5468005 Quantum Nucleonics
Quantum Nucleonics's picture

One of the great untold stories of the Obama administration, sadly among many, is the massive expansion of social security disability.  Team Obama threw open the doors to the program.  I recall a couple telling stories (1) there's a judge in Kentucky that has a 100% acceptance rate for SSD, and (2) a factory shut down in Puerto Rico and all but 3 of the plants 300-ish workers ended up on SSD.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 19:51 | 5467611 chistletoe
chistletoe's picture

This has more to do with technological development than it has to do with the government.

Our technology enables our society to feed, clothe, house, and medicate all of us from the actual work of only a very few.

 

Eveything else has evolved from that.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 22:18 | 5468027 Quantum Nucleonics
Quantum Nucleonics's picture

Not really.  It's more about the government piling on regulations and high taxes such that labor becomes so expensive that business' only rational choice is to move overseas to find cheap labor.  That, combined with the fact that education system is now run as a liberal union full employment program, churning out generations of low functioning idiots with no useful skills.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 19:53 | 5467614 silverserfer
silverserfer's picture

what a piece of shit article. Where the fuck is all the military industrail complex global domination spending? Our "activities" overseas are bloated. Money spent on domestic social programs is dwarfed by empiracal activites abroad  and money printing used for self preservation of the status quo for the power elite.     

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 04:11 | 5468761 John Wilmot
John Wilmot's picture

No

FY2013

Defense Dept + VA + DHS = $868 billion in war spending

SS + Medicare + Medicaid = $1,824 billion in welfare spending

And that's not counting foodstamps, HUD, TANF, and many other smaller programs.

 

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 10:16 | 5469359 Clarabell
Clarabell's picture

Social Security is and alway has been self funding self sustaining and has not cost the government one nickle. Get your facts straight!

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 15:59 | 5470771 John Wilmot
John Wilmot's picture

/sarc ?

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 19:52 | 5467615 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

As a rule, I'm not that fond of lists,

  but this, me likey;)

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 19:57 | 5467626 GOSPLAN HERO
GOSPLAN HERO's picture

"But with respect to future debt; would it not be wise and just for that nation to declare in the constitution they are forming that neither the legislature, nor the nation itself can validly contract more debt, than they may pay within their own age, or within the term of 19 years."

Thomas Jefferson 1789 - letter to James Madison

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:07 | 5467655 gwar5
gwar5's picture

It's a safety net, not a lifestyle. When people get too much free shit from Gov.co it's over. Put a fork in us.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:18 | 5467660 silverserfer
silverserfer's picture

all income groups pay

gas tax,

cigartte tax,

alcohol tax,(fuckers)

transportaion tax( priced into food and goods),

cable tax,

internet tax,

phone tax,

sales tax or property tax(even in rental rate) depending on state

room tax,

excise tax, 

essentially everything you buy has priced in taxes. REAL tax rates for the 99% are 75% 

 

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 22:08 | 5467993 dexter_morgan
dexter_morgan's picture

corporate taxes - they get passed along as a invisible tax on everything you purchase

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 23:08 | 5468211 silverserfer
silverserfer's picture

ya those were off the top of my head. I figured i miissed proably half a dozen more.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 04:15 | 5468765 John Wilmot
John Wilmot's picture

No

FY2013

Federal excise tax revenues = $88 billion

That's trivial.

Most taxes paid are income and payroll taxes.

And the overwhelming majority of those are paid by the rich.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:13 | 5467680 Wilcox1
Wilcox1's picture

That's what happens when the system evolves to force a hand to mouth existance. The consumer spending growth model absolutely precludes a conservative investment strategy at the grass roots level. People will never become self sufficient from the top down. Living within one's means and developing meaningful skills is a bottom up strategy.

Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats, raises a family, and has a chance at a future.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 09:44 | 5469165 Pee Wee
Pee Wee's picture

Teach a man to fish?  Not without castrating him with a mountain of debt you don't.

Family, future and what Larry Summers calls "chances" are monetized - and that man gets no future.

Corporations are people fool, your fisherman is already dead.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:12 | 5467681 Clesthenes
Clesthenes's picture

“government dependence is out of control”

You got that right.

I’d like to add another perspective.  Thru my research there’s probably not a constitutional tax on the books today (my lawyer took two years to validate my findings).

This can easily be demonstrated by a brief examination of the income tax.  By way of illustration: suppose Congress passed an act that imposed a tax on the “income of every gorilla”.  I estimate that 6 out of 10 Americans would refuse to pay the tax on the basis they are not gorillas.

Let’s go to the next scenario: suppose Congress enacted a tax on the income of every corporation (IRC §11).  You probably would refuse to pay such tax because you are not a corporation.

Very good.

Now, a real test: section one imposes a tax on the “income of every individual”.

Would you pay it?

It hinges on whether you are an individual or not.

Interestingly, the Internal Revenue Code has a statutory definition for every significant word and phrase; but, search as you will you won’t find a definition for individual… in the IRC.  It was in the 1913 income tax act; but no more.  It is in the Privacy Act: “every citizen of the United States and [certain] resident aliens”.  This is the definition for every federal agency.

Most Americans would look at this and conclude that they are citizens of the US and reluctantly pay the tax.

But, are they actually “individuals” as defined for purposes of the federal government?

Let’s look a little deeper: “every citizen of the United States shall have the same rights… as are enjoyed by white citizens”, 42 USC 1982.

Clearly, there is a distinction between “citizen of the US” and “white citizen”.  It is the difference between black and white (literally), and it is constitutional language: it can’t be changed except by the amendment process.

So, which are you: a black, or a white, citizen?  If you are the former, IRC §1 applies to you; if the latter, you are exempt from the income tax.

And, I strongly advise that you not try to assert this position.  Do not try to withhold income taxes based on this research: you’ll get savaged.  Do not attempt to assert it in court: you’ll only put the judge in a position to declare or expose a great treason; and everyone should know that if he should give a proper decision, it would not be safe to fly on the same airplane with him.

All this means that most Americans have been paying an illegal tax their whole lives; and we have a right to recover it all.

 

The problem is, “How?”  The answer is simple and difficult at the same time: the easy part is to learn law and procedures of redress; the hard part is making it happen. 

Fri, 11/21/2014 - 16:22 | 5474804 Al Tinfoil
Al Tinfoil's picture

"Let’s look a little deeper: “every citizen of the United States shall have the same rights… as are enjoyed by white citizens”, 42 USC 1982."

This section is intended to deal with the difference in rights enjoyed by citizens depending on the color of their skin - racism, in other words.  It says that differentiating among citizens on the basis of skin color is not valid.  In other words, it says that every citizen is entitled to the same rights regardless of skin color.  It is not an endorsement for the idea that there are different classes of citizens recognized by the Constitution.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:41 | 5467766 Nondrone 99
Nondrone 99's picture

Americans do not have the right to work.Employment is a priveledge that is either granted or  withheld based on the need and/or desire of corporate or individual employers.In the event that a worker,for whatever reason cannot secure employment,a reason will be sought,and often found,to obtain .gov benefits which an individual has a right by law to claim.There are a number of ways to stop people from claiming .gov benefits.The right to collect .gov benefits could be abolished or severely curtailed.In the Soviet Union,unemployment was simply criminalized.Any person who lost their job and failed to find a new one was subject to arrest and was held in jail until an employer in search of workers made an offer,which it was illegal for the detained worker to refuse.This was of course accompanied by a constraint on the freedom of employers in hiring also.Certainly many people in the US today would return to work if jobs were available which paid 1000 usd more per year than .gov subsistance type programs.By the time a worker gets done paying for transportation and other incidental expenses incurred by holding an "entry level" job,they are often not ahead by 1000usd per month.Indeed,the worker may well find him/herself attempting to live on less income than is available through a combination of .gov benefits.The idea that people prefer not to work is a myth.Stagnation of wages is the likely main cause of the epidemic of idleness that is so pervasive nowadays-IMO.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 01:05 | 5468521 neuronius
neuronius's picture

+1
Welfare doesn't happen in a vacuum, and wouldn't be so prevalent if the political class weren't looking for a captive audience for their schemes. Welfare is simply a plan to take shit from one group of people to create another class of people beholden to the political class.

Sun, 11/30/2014 - 00:46 | 5500721 GoinFawr
GoinFawr's picture

Yeah, take that JK Rowling!

http://thestir.cafemom.com/toddler/161299/jk_rowlings_brutal_honesty_about

I wonder if the taxes she's paid before and since she was on the dole have more than covered the cost of her assistance?

And say Erroneous, isn't 'the political class', well, everyone?

 

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:46 | 5467781 Consuelo
Consuelo's picture

"...and others are just receiving government benefits (such as Social Security) that they feel that they have earned by a lifetime of hard work."

"that they feel they have earned...?"   I didn't know receiving social security benefits were a function of a person's subjective 'feelings' on the matter...   You either paid into the system or you didn't, and receive $transfers as a result, no...?

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:57 | 5467822 p00k1e
p00k1e's picture

The numbers do not work for Social Security.  (F’in Arabs strike again with their maths!)

Run the numbers on yourself. 

How much did you contribute Vs expectations.  

 

According to my calculations – but this could be incorrect but something to contemplate.

Say a person contributes to Social Security from age 18 to 65.  That's 47 years.

The maximum annual 2014 contribution toward Social Security's Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) is $7,254.00 (2014 dollars).   $7,254.00 x 47 years = $340,938.   (This maximum would only be paid by those who earn $117,000 (2014 dollars).  1*

The maximum monthly 2014 benefit from Social Security's Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) for a retirement at age 65 is $2,431. 340,938 / 2431 = 140.25 months or 11.7 years. 

1* - http://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/cbb.html

2* - http://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/examplemax.html

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 22:43 | 5468121 falconflight
falconflight's picture

Most excellent, appreciate the primer.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 20:49 | 5467790 p00k1e
p00k1e's picture

We’re somewhat limited in options.

Euthanize the non-producers.  The death can be framed as disease or war or outright make them ride the needle, never speaking of the atrocities again. 

Cut the workweek hours in half.  Call in the bench for the other half of the workweek, three days on four days off... 
Free markets would be required. 

Continue with producers contributing to the non-producers avoiding death and mayhem. 

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 21:34 | 5467916 flyonmywall
flyonmywall's picture

Yep, I see this every day.

There are very few people who walk into a doctor's office who actually work for a living, and have a private insurance plan that pays for services.

It's all Medicare and Medicaid. The Medicare patients walk or trundle in, get their visit and scrip, then head out in a beater car, usually driven by a relative.

The Medicaid patients saunter in like they own the place, complain about having to pay a $2 copay, demand Vicodin or some other pain killer prescription, then saunter out to their shiny, top-of-the-line Government Motors SUV. 

Meanwhile, the people who work at the doctor's office pay their taxes, and work for a living. So the gov't is paying itself, through these people's taxes, to pay for freeloaters with digitally created money. The doctors are paying their taxes with digitally created money, and are paid with money from freeloaders from the government.

It's all fucked up. Makes you just wanna drop some acid so maybe you can understand it better, or just fucking freak out and glue yourself to a wall.

 

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 22:26 | 5468056 spooz
spooz's picture

It always depresses me how clueless some people are about the real state of the economy and the lack of living wage jobs.  The fact that those who were born on third base or who have been lucky to have exceptional abilities or opportunities are blind to the majority who struggle to get by is a sign of the sickness of our culture.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 15:46 | 5470722 FredFlintstone
FredFlintstone's picture

Spooz, wouldn't it be great if the MSM reported on all of this shit like it cared? The media loves its king it helped create. If there was a full out barrage of reporting on how bad things were instead of the occasional story, congress and the prez might have to do something about it. We are all pretending the emperor has clothes.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 21:45 | 5467942 Temerity Trader
Temerity Trader's picture

The ‘poor’ stand on line at the supermarket with the newest I-Phone in their pocket. They push their EBT-paid for groceries and 55” HDTV out to their new SUV with five kids in tow.

The ‘useless’, sit at home eating potato chips, slamming down sodas and beer, and smoking dope until they weigh 400 lbs and their brains are fried, then they file for disabilities and get monthly checks for life. They also get free $4K scooters and a free scooter carrier for their SUV.

 

Both groups live in brand new government subsidized apartments.

 

‘Illegals’, soon to be legals, will want big pay increases, free ObamaCare, etc., and will get it. They live 15 to an apartment and spend their 90% of their time in the Phone store upgrading their plans.

Anybody who f***ing believes this is all somehow sustainable by limitless money printing, is delusional, big time! 

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 22:28 | 5468062 spooz
spooz's picture

Clueless cretin who lacks critical thinking skills necessary to see through the propaganda.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 22:40 | 5468114 falconflight
falconflight's picture

Spooz?  Spooge, there fixed it.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 22:38 | 5468099 p00k1e
p00k1e's picture

MY EBT (NOW ON iTUNES) - By @MrEBT & @CaptnHook_Maine

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o64Fz-KW1Dk

 

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 21:44 | 5467943 q99x2
q99x2's picture

I decided to go to college

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 21:54 | 5467968 BeagleOne
BeagleOne's picture

Your credibility becomes less and less by using Terrance P. Jeffrey as a resource. It is amazing that you can actually write but believe your own bullsh*t.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 22:00 | 5467976 paintman
paintman's picture

According to some simple math I did based on easily found government numbers, our federal government spends $16.73 for every hour worked by every working person in the United States.  This, alone, shows that federal spending is out of control.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 22:29 | 5468070 spooz
spooz's picture

The only reason federal spending is "out of control" is because we have allowed the banks to extract rents from every corner of our economy. Debt free fiat is a sovereign right.  

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 22:57 | 5468171 DipshitMiddleCl...
DipshitMiddleClassWhiteKid's picture

Socialism works until you run out of someone elses money.

~DipshitmiddleclassWhiteKid

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 23:03 | 5468197 exomike
exomike's picture

 

 

 

HAS PROPAGANDA STOLEN EVERYBODY'S ABILITY TO REASON?

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 23:59 | 5468363 Atomizer
Thu, 11/20/2014 - 00:21 | 5468425 FreedomGuy
FreedomGuy's picture

At some point, more and more people will have to ask, "Is it worth it?"

I find government involved in almost every aspect of my life and it takes a larger portion of my work than any other category. Government also adds stress and complexity. I am reminded of Orwell and the statement, "Only proles are free."

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 00:30 | 5468446 BernankeHasHemo...
BernankeHasHemorrhoids's picture

Are we supposed to feel bad about this or outraged? I don't give a fuck any more. Americans are a bunch of worthless meth-addicted white trash losers that should be put in camps and used as slave labor for their Chinese masters. They make me puke and the sooner the AmeriKKKan empire is flushed down the toilet bowl of history the better off we all will be.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 00:48 | 5468489 TheGreatRecovery
TheGreatRecovery's picture

Does this include Social Security?  Social Security is NOT a welfare program.  Social Security disability is.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 04:34 | 5468783 John Wilmot
John Wilmot's picture

Social security and medicare are welfare programs.

The average recipient receives far more in benefits than he ever paid in.

The fact that recipients pay/paid something does not make it any less of a welfare program

By that logic, a person living in HUD housing, getting foodstamps and TANF isn't really on welfare because he pays excise tax when he buys malt liquor.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 08:36 | 5469025 basho
basho's picture

'The average recipient receives far more in benefits than he ever paid in.'

 

when adjusted for inflation??

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 16:02 | 5470776 John Wilmot
John Wilmot's picture

Yes, inflation-adjusted

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 00:48 | 5468494 TheGreatRecovery
TheGreatRecovery's picture

Medicare is also NOT a welfare program. Medicaid is.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 01:01 | 5468514 TheGreatRecovery
TheGreatRecovery's picture

When I was in school, I wrote some articles that included lists, but I was supposed to use the facts in the lists to make a conclusion.  Every fact had to support the conclusion.  Today, many articles include lists, and then just end with questions.  I suppose writers think this influences readers somehow, but it seems weak to me.  Perhaps the model for this style is the campaign attack ad, with dark brooding background music.  "You better be scared of The Other Candidate"!

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 01:13 | 5468536 The9thDoctor
The9thDoctor's picture

Today, many articles include lists, and then just end with questions.  I suppose writers think this influences readers somehow, but it seems weak to me

This article explains why...

http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/a-list-of-reasons-why-our-brains-...

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 08:34 | 5469022 basho
basho's picture

you can still do that.

read the list and make your conclusions.

why do you need someone elses conclusions?

or maybe you do.

 

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 01:25 | 5468559 besnook
besnook's picture

the purpose of welfare is the anti riot effect it has on the populace. that is the best reason to get rid of welfare.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 02:41 | 5468669 Atomizer
Thu, 11/20/2014 - 03:01 | 5468695 mojofabuloso
mojofabuloso's picture

The most pervasive way that the government makes people dependent is by fixing intrest rates below inflation, taxing the shit out of people, restricting our right to produce and making it difficult or impossible to save.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 08:02 | 5468954 PT
PT's picture

Don't forget giving money to banks that they then lend to idiots thus driving up prices beyond what normal people can afford.  And then all that other stuff you said.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 05:51 | 5468831 SoDamnMad
SoDamnMad's picture

20. According to a report from the Center for Immigration Studies, 43 percent of all immigrants that have been in the United States for at least 20 years are still on welfare.

OK POTUS. If you give illegal immigrants these special rights you plan on unleashing Saturday, how many of the 5 million will be in the 43%. Let's see now if I can still do math.  2,150,000.  Let's round it to 2 MILLION.

Bullish food stamps

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 09:13 | 5469086 redd_green
redd_green's picture

Show me the fact checking on these numbers Snyder is selling before you start bashing some particular group.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 08:15 | 5468971 SocialismIsCancer
SocialismIsCancer's picture

I would implement the Spartacus Solution: Kill Them All !

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 09:11 | 5469082 redd_green
redd_green's picture

Snyder is pulling numbers out of his ... well, you know.    Re "2. About 70 percent of all government spending now goes toward dependence-creating programs"  horse crap.   The 70% number is military and all related security bullshit.    While the Waltons and Romneys and GE and IBM and .. have shut down US factories, and scattered  the high paying manufacturing jobs from Mexico to China, we in the botom 99% got screwed.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 10:28 | 5469419 DukeDog
DukeDog's picture

Military share of budget for 2015 = 16%. Mandatory spending (entitlements) = 65%. Ever hear of google? btw, how did entitlement spending become mandatory?

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 09:16 | 5469090 redd_green
redd_green's picture

Re "21. Most Americans are not earning enough to support themselves and their families"   the only bullet point that matters. It is true, and, why would this be the case?   The folks who ran Bain Capital, and ran millions of high paying US jobs out of the USA seem to be quite happy!

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 09:16 | 5469091 Quinvarius
Quinvarius's picture

I think the choice is more like: Would you stay home and live off the gov, or go to work and pay for 10 other people to live off the gov?  There is a breaking point where I would say screw it and stay home too.  If your only option is 7$ an hour now, might as well stay home.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 09:54 | 5469226 falak pema
falak pema's picture

One fact that proves the Oligarchy dependence is out of control in America : The TBTF are unassailable. 

When the ZH posts start putting the Oligarchy horse in front of the subservient statist cart we might get somewhere.

What the US needs is another FDR !

Who Glass Steagalls and closes down the casino, and  jails a few bankstas cum corrupt politicians, judges and MIC/NSA scammers who have NOTHING to envy about Al Capone. 

We need a man who cleans out the Augean stables of DC/WS.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 14:18 | 5470409 Dull Care
Dull Care's picture

LOL we have our new FDR right now. FDR was an incompotent moron who starved people to grow his own political power. What we need is another Harding.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 09:59 | 5469248 Itinerant
Itinerant's picture

By including only federal taxes (largely fica and income tax) one paints a contentious picture. There is a lot of regressive taxation which is left out of this picture.

And the way the problem is framed is eggregiously contentious: Senior citizens with social security are not people who cannot take care of themselves. They are benefitting from a government imposed pension facility (regardless of whether you think it is well implemented). Most the the unemployed are not people who cannot take care of themselves: they can and would take care of themselves if there were jobs you could (force) them into. Fact is, those jobs do not exist in aggregate (that is an individual might succeed in getting one, but not all individuals can succeed in bagging one since the totals do not tally).

If that was untrue, you could stop all benefits (except for the disabled) tomorrow and everyone would just go to work to survive. It is unhelpful to pretend that this is in fact the current situation of society, even though you would like it to be.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 10:08 | 5469296 Toolshed
Toolshed's picture

Gee, maybe the government should start taxing big corporations instead of subsidizing them.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 10:24 | 5469395 DukeDog
DukeDog's picture

Every corporation passes along all its cost to its customers, including taxes, else it goes out of business. Look at an income statement. The bottom line, profit after taxes and interest, derives from sales. If sales don't cover all costs, including taxes, no profit. Corps are just middlemen tax collectors. Their customers pay the corporate taxes, so in that regard you are correct, corporations do not pay taxes, but increasing the corporate tax rate only raises the prices they charge their customers. In a competitive business sector, lowering corporate tax rates should result in lower prices for their goods/services. Make sense?

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 10:14 | 5469343 limacon
limacon's picture

Governments are 2/3 dead already as their tax base crumbles under their feet .

You are about 3 times richer than you think .

 

See

 

https://www.academia.edu/9405720/The_Economics_of_Disrespect_Update_I

 

or

 

http://andreswhy.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-economics-of-disrespect-update...

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 10:24 | 5469401 diBalikTirai
diBalikTirai's picture

edit to #16, it's the number of food stamp recipients outnumbers the number of women who work full time. Not the number of women on food stamps outnumbers the number of women who work full time. Good read, thank you.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 10:25 | 5469402 diBalikTirai
diBalikTirai's picture

edit to #16, it's the number of food stamp recipients outnumbers the number of women who work full time. Not the number of women on food stamps outnumbers the number of women who work full time. Good read, thank you.

Thu, 11/20/2014 - 11:39 | 5469595 nostromo17
nostromo17's picture

"dependence' costs are just the taxed imposed by the oligarchy (which avoids taxes) and corporations (which avoid taxes) on the working part of the population to keep the unemployed natives from getting too restless. These same overlords created and maintain unemployment by allowing or shipping jobs over seas having a preference for younger less experienced (read cheaper) employees and obsolescing employees with automation. Further having reduced the assets of older person which was the value of their homes trashed by the mortgage crisis they added to the dependency roles  And last what retirement funds people had have also been rendered sterile in terms of income by low rates or companies preferring to bankrupt than pay what they owed.

So blaming the government as the functionary of maintaining the dependents is off base. The real problem is that so many have been forced to relie on the government just to scrape along. Everyone misidentifies those receiving aid as bums in slums or something when in fact a larger proportion than ever are people who are not bums and not in slums and need the assistance because they are denied the opportunity to work.

Further it is true that at certain level of poorness it is not worth taking a poorly paying job (which income is taxed) as it can damage one's health benefits and what one is receiving in other benefits such as food stamps. Without a significant leap forward in pay and benefits from an employer working leaves one in worse circumstances.

The problem is without an economy of production where workers receive a surplus to be consumers there is no economy. Poor pay, no benefits, false 1099ing employees allow businesses that are not profitable enough to operate to keep on robbing the poor maintaining the poverty of now a majority of people and leave them no recourse but dependency or leaving the country to somewhere (if there is a place) where some opportunities exist.

The workers paying taxes for the dependents should not blame the dependents and instead should look at their bosses, their corporations their overlords who are shirking their responsibility to have a productive economy where people can work instead of screwing everybody else for short term goals or goals that in the end serve no one not even themselves over the long term. Instead we have Republican workers who are wanna be overlords identifying with their exploitive masters who pass the bill for their misguided actions (evil greedy and dishonest as well) onto these wanna be dupes who pay taxes for them.

And Democrats who are also dupes since their representatives are no better because they too favor banksters, the military industrial complex and coporate interests. Democrats unconsciously in supporting welfare (and strategically for votes although the military and homeland security are the Republican welfare states for votes) accede to the notion of paying off the cast off by society to keep some level of peace under the guise of taking care of people.

What has to change is that the workers who pay the taxes for the "dependents" have to ally with them against the overlords that are screwing them and the dependents. Replace the DemoRepublocrats and restructure prodution in the society away from the monopolistic oligarchic structure now in place.

Hang em, exile them the present regiems have to go or there will just be total destruction with nothing to follow. Getting ahead of that curve is the task.

But the poor politically correct (because no one has any balls anymore because they live in fear of losing even the crap status they have) schlubs would rather pretend, wanna be they are part of the ruling or rich or middle class side of society instead of admitting they too are slaves who pay taxes for the care of the other slaves that have been made obsolete.

Republicans and Democrats run on "job creation" haven't seen it happen yet and its rarely if ever anything but a transient appearance of creating jobs that are in fact temporary jobs and window dressing. THe fact is under their rule jobs have been destroyed for years under the guise of "free trade" which is just the disinformative name for imperialism and colonialism. Instead of building Mexico for instance and other south central American countries we just use their workers their to make things our workers are "too expensive" for because we under pay them in Mexico. So we have them wanting to come here where there are underpaid jobs that pay better than the underpaid jobs there. Immigration would stop if all the money we spend trying to keep them out was spent to develop Mexico even if that meant overthrowing their exploitive slave ruling class.

Immigration would stop if instead of building a Ford factory there to short change Mexican labor one built a factory that distrubuted enough wealth among Mexicans their country would become productive etc.

Fucked up deal and no one even sees what really goes on so they are Don QUixotes fighting illusory windmills and never solving anything, played by the captured medio to embrace false issues. Wake up folks. The party is over. Or pay for the dependents before you starve them enough its worth robbing and killing you all. No middle class doesn't work.

No economy means there will be no middle class.The ruling class that works like this dooms themselves because there are no consumers and they live on the edge of assasination as the situation worsens. A complete waste. Depose the Oligarchs in the USA and everywhere and build a right capitalism that needs workers and takes responsibility for paying them enough they can retire and not be dependent.

Capitalism has not learned to fairly extract surplus value. Instead it relies on simply stealing from workers by not paying them what they cost to maintain, when that fails in their own country they simply exploit workers the same way and worse in other coutries and avoid environmental rules which are for everyones wellbeing by exporting production to save costs by circumventing operating in a safe and sane manner. Capitalism also needs to rob resources from other countries by extracting them at the discounted price of the bribing those countries rulers who let the wealth escape their country leaving their people poorer than before. Call it greed or just the easy way out for an oligarch working this way capitalism can be seen as nothing more than exploitation run by robber barons with no concern but accumulating wealth ultimately to no constructive purpose - they are hoarders penurious horders that contribute nothing to society or others.

Your article is trapped by the misinformation  and endless discussion that goes nowhere because it doesn't identify the problems correctly. As usualy you have been tricked into laying the blame on the affected by the distorted warped untenable social structure we all live under and are to some degree complicit in allowing to persist. Instead you should look at what the problems really are and who maintains the status quo that prefers to maintain a social structure that perpetuates the problems You should look at the source of the problem. Falling for the false argument you participate in the disinformation and are part of the problem. Learn to point your finger at who is to blame. The ruling class is to blame for their actions. And the 99 percent are to blame for not throwing them out. %1 only rule because the sheeple allow them to, not because they really control anything. And the media captured by them, almost all western media at this point, have to go to and be replaced by someone that can think and identify the sources and acters that have allowed power to only express itself in the rape robbery and exploitation of the many by a few pathetic amoral psychopaths.

 

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