Government dependency is on the rise according to a new Heritage Foundation study. Americans can thank President Barack Obama for a huge spike in the numbers of Americans dependent on government resources, but both parties can share in the blame. If the federal government does not make government smaller and less intrusive, then there may not be much private sector wealth creation for government bureaucrats to take to redistribute to dependent Americans. American are relying on government handouts rather than hard work for many of the necessities of life. One in five Americans rely on the federal government for housing, health care, food, college tuition and retirement resources. The 10th year of The Heritage Foundation government dependency study, the 2012 Index of Dependence on Government , proves that members of both parties need to take a hard look in the mirror and figure out a way to slow, then end, the creeping expansion of the federal government into every aspect of our lives. John Merline of Investor’s Business Daily writes that that the Obama presidency can take credit for 23% of the surge in dependency. The American public’s dependence on the federal government shot up 23% in just two years under President Obama, with 67 million now relying on some federal program, according to a newly released study by the Heritage Foundation. Merline points out that the Obama increase is the largest two-year jump since the Presidency of Jimmy Carter. The reason for the stimulus in government dependency was President Obama’s and Congress’ efforts to increase housing subsidies, expand Medicaid and more welfare spending including food stamps. If more people become reliant on government, expect Americans to go down the road of our European friends who have relied on big welfare states for years. With a big welfare state and less people working to pay for big government, the federal government’s natural inclination is to raise taxes on job creators to engage in wealth redistribution. The take away from this study is that big government and a shift to a dependent society will be the death of free markets and the idea of a relatively unencumbered version of capitalism. Get ready for the slow walk to socialism that we can see every day destroying Europe. As Patrick Tyrrell of The Heritage Foundation, my employer, puts it “ Dependence on Government at All-Time High .” Tyrrell points to some facts in the new study that should shock Americans. Dependent Americans – One in five Americans—the highest in the nation’s history—relies on the federal government for everything from housing, health care, and food stamps to college tuition and retirement assistance. That’s more than 67.3 million Americans who receive subsidies from Washington. Government Stimulus for Dependency – Government dependency jumped 8.1 percent in the past year, with the most assistance going toward housing, health and welfare, and retirement. Record High Dependency Spending – The federal government spent more taxpayer dollars than ever before in 2011 to subsidize Americans. The average individual who relies on Washington could receive benefits valued at $32,748, more than the nation’s average disposable personal income ($32,446). Almost 50% of Americans Don’t Pay Income Tax – At the same time, nearly half of the U.S. population (49.5 percent) does not pay any federal income taxes. Future Dependency Spending Projected to Explode – In the next 25 years, more than 77 million baby boomers will retire. They will begin collecting checks from Social Security, drawing benefits from Medicare, and relying on Medicaid for long-term care. 70% of Federal Budget Dedicated to Dependency – As of now, 70 percent of the federal government’s budget goes to individual assistance programs, up dramatically in just the past few years. However, research shows that private, community, and charitable aid helps individuals rise from their difficulties with better success than federal government handouts. Plus, local and private aid is often more effectively distributed. Government debt stands at about $15.2 trillion; a number higher than the economic output of the United States for an average year. Dependency is growing as government grows. These trends are bad for freedom and the future of America. Although this trend toward government dependency has accelerated under President Obama, he is not wholly to blame. Both parties have supported a massive expansion of welfare programs over the past few years. The food stamp program is the fourth largest entitlement program and stands at about $89 billion for this year. There are 72 means tested welfare programs that grow in size and scope every year. Bailouts have made big corporate America dependent on government money when they can’t make ends meet. Medicare Part D was a creation of a Republican administration that expanded dependency of the elderly on government subsidized prescription drugs. If both parties don’t stop promising more government largess in an effort to buy off American voters, our nation is endanger of insolvency.
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President Barack Obama: “The Dependency President”
Eric Raymond, the scion of the General Public License, has a website believe it or not. He posted this today and if you think about it, its an eyeopener if the study is complete and factual — Our other news today is of a study apparently showing that the heritability of IQ increases with age.
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A Scientific Double Tap
Eric Raymond, the scion of the General Public License, has a website believe it or not. He posted this today and if you think about it, its an eyeopener if the study is complete and factual — Our other news today is of a study apparently showing that the heritability of IQ increases with age.
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A Scientific Double Tap
RedState Morning Briefing January 26, 2012 Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge. 1. Wisconsin’s Walker Leads Poll As Union Bosses Burn Through Members’ Money 2. They Spent Our Taxes on This? 3. Establishments and Our Money: A Response To Avik Roy 4. A Successful Rescue in Somalia and a Psychological Lift for America ———————————————————————- 1. Wisconsin’s Walker Leads Poll As Union Bosses Burn Through Members’ Money Following Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s reforming his state’s collective bargaining laws and breaking the stranglehold unions held on taxpayers (saving them $476 million so far), union bosses across the country laid siege on the dairy state’s capitol and declared war on Walker and his fellow Republicans. In 2011, union bosses and other outside groups spent tens of millions of dollars in a failed attempt to recall six Republican state senators and are spending millions more now trying to recall Scott Walker. The millions union are now spending—paid for by union members throughout the country—has Democrats getting nervous that the money spent might strain union coffers to much prior to the November elections. Please click here for the rest of the post. 2. They Spent Our Taxes on This? Our national debt stands at $15.2 trillion, and is growing by roughly $6 billion per day. We have tens of trillions in unfunded liabilities for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Unfortunately, we have learned that Republicans lack the gumption to fight for transformational spending cuts and reforms of major entitlements. However, at the very least, one would expect them to oppose silly pork projects like Buffalo Soldiers! Yesterday, the Republican-controlled House passed HR 1022, a bill that would require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study of the history of Buffalo Soldiers in the establishment of national parks. The study will cost $400,000. The purpose of the study is to ascertain the feasibility of a plan to create a 200-mile trail between San Francisco and Yosemite National Park in commemoration of the Buffalo Soldiers. The federal government already owns roughly 1/3 of all American land. Do we need to afford them the opportunity to take over more land? Please click here for the rest of the post. 3. Establishments and Our Money: A Response To Avik Roy As anyone with a passing familiarity with Republican politics over the past four or five decades knows, conservative magazines and think tanks have been making detailed entitlement reform proposals for most of those years, and Republicans running for offices high and low have been running on platforms of reducing the size and cost of government for just as long. And then nothing happens. That’s why Congress’ battles over the debt ceiling and related issues provide such a potent example. Basically all Republican Senators profess to be in favor of smaller government, and yet so few are willing to go to the barricades to make it a reality. Now, I’m a realist – there are limits to how much we could expect even a completely united GOP to bring home as long as Obama is the President and Harry Reid the Senate Majority Leader. But the repeated spectacle of leading pundits and Beltway Republicans tut-tutting Boehner and company for even trying to use their leverage to exact real concessions is a sign that the message Republican voters have been sending is not getting through to everyone. Please click here for the rest of the post. 4. A Successful Rescue in Somalia and a Psychological Lift for America Two nights ago, a joint force from America’s Tier One special operations command conducted a raid on a pirate camp in Somalia, freeing two hostages – an American and a Dane – and killing their captors before exfiltrating north to Djibouti via helicopter. Please click here for the rest of the post.
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Morning Briefing for January 26, 2012
Our national debt stands at $15.2 trillion, and is growing by roughly $6 billion per day. We have tens of trillions in unfunded liabilities for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Unfortunately, we have learned that Republicans lack the gumption to fight for transformational spending cuts and reforms of major entitlements. However, at the very least, one would expect them to oppose silly pork projects like Buffalo Soldiers! Yesterday, the Republican-controlled House passed HR 1022, a bill that would require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study of the history of Buffalo Soldiers in the establishment of national parks. The study will cost $400,000 . The purpose of the study is to ascertain the feasibility of a plan to create a 200-mile trail between San Francisco and Yosemite National Park in commemoration of the Buffalo Soldiers. The federal government already owns roughly 1/3 of all American land. Do we need to afford them the opportunity to take over more land? The bill was sponsored by Democrat Congresswoman Jackie Speier, yet Republican leaders agreed to bring it up under a suspension vote with limited debate. Even though a two-thirds super majority is required for passage, the bill passed easily with 338 votes. Only 70 Republicans opposed this inane endeavor. While this is small potatoes in the scheme our more existential problems, it is very instructive. If they can’t find the courage to oppose some silly bill that nobody cares about, how are they going to roll back major dependency programs that enjoy popular constituencies? Moreover, if you take a look at page 34 of the GOP Pledge to America , they made the following observation regarding suspension votes during the Pelosi Congress: The number of House legislative days devoted to action on noncontroversial and often insignificant “suspension” bills is up significantly in this Congress by comparison with the past several Congresses, wasting time and taxpayer resources. Of the bills considered under the suspension procedure – requiring 2/3 vote for passage – so far during this Congress, more than half were bills naming federal buildings, recognizing individuals or groups (like sports teams) for achievements, or supporting the designation of particular days, months, or weeks. The Buffalo Soldiers undoubtedly served with courage in the United States Army, and deserve some sort of commemoration. But doesn’t this study qualify as “wasting time and taxpayer resources?”
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They Spent Our Taxes on This?
