Government

The Ballooning Welfare State

According to USA Today, government anti-poverty programs serve a record one in six Americans, and that number is expected to rise as programs increase.

For example, the article reports that more than 50 million Americans are on Medicaid, more than 40 million receive food stamps, close to 10 million receive unemployment insurance, and more than 4.4 million remain on welfare. All programs have seen increases in participants during the recession, which means increased costs:

As caseloads for all the programs have soared, so have costs. The federal price tag for Medicaid has jumped 36% in two years, to $273 billion. Jobless benefits have soared from $43 billion to $160 billion. The food stamps program has risen 80%, to $70 billion. Welfare is up 24%, to $22 billion. Taken together, they cost more than Medicare.

Comments (22)

  • stpppim
    Posted on October 7, 2010 at 7:39pm

    Pelosi wants to give out more Food Stamps.
    She supports Obama’s “Trickle up Poverty” economic plan.

    Report Post » stpppim  
  • Ladypeppercar
    Posted on September 6, 2010 at 10:08am

    Everyone here makes a good point — that is why this is such a difficult question — Intelligensia asks very hard questions and I am here to declare myself guilty as charged — it is far easier to direct a dangerous metally ill cousin to some government safety net than it is to say, “Move in with me and my kids.” The fact that government is now unable to decide who really needs services and who is a moocher is problematic. May I suggest that we begin to let churches pick up the slack where families cannot provide for each other instead of growing the Nanny State. Godly compassionate folks will be better able to discern who is gaming the system and who is in need. They have a stake in helping people over their fear of getting a job, or a home, or a life… Government does not care. It can’t. Government needs to be the very last resort — not the first, as it has become. I admit that this will not be easy and we will all have to do some soul-searching and make some hard choices. I will begin tithing this Sunday. Then maybe I’ll call my cousin…

    Report Post »  
  • drconstitutionalconservative
    Posted on September 4, 2010 at 11:21pm

    In the famous “We have to pass it before we can find out what is in it”, there are areas that outline discontinuing MediCARE, in favor of a national MEDICAID plan for all. What most people are not aware of pertaining to Medicaid is, it IS a ‘pay back’ system of medical care, in that when you decease, if you have ANY holdings left, the state comes in and puts a lien on them, and then either forces heirs to pay the costs of the pre-death care of the recipient to regain the bequeathed properties, OR, sells the property off to recoup the funds spent on their care. Reid and Pelosi are the main architects of this little health care scheme. Too bad we still don’t “know what all is in this bill”. More fun to come, folks.

    Report Post »  
  • jerseypatriot
    Posted on September 4, 2010 at 4:42pm

    One Stimulus Package $787 billion dollars
    Number of weeks muching off the system 99
    # of jobs created in the private sector 0
    Getting rid of those progressives in Washington in Nov. priceless.

    Report Post »  
  • Sheerkon
    Posted on September 4, 2010 at 1:53pm

    without generous welfare how would the left be able to have rent-a-mob protesters and the zillion basement boys like dinglebag ,to troll every site 24/7?Cut off welfare for able bodied people who have been on for over 12 months and half of the looney bin would disappear,pronto.

    Report Post »  
  • Gigantopithecus
    Posted on September 4, 2010 at 12:27pm

    In 2011 we need to START UNWINDING WELFARE – it has created a growing class of moochers that will even vote for a Communist to keep the freebies coming – and our country is going bankrupt in the process – another goal of the Democrat Communists. It is now a matter of national security – time for an ERA OF AUSTERITY – keep the programs people have paid into like Social Security and Medicare and reduce welfare to only true hardship cases that cannot work (and being fat DOES NOT qualify as disability – get out there, work and burn it off dammit)! You talk about something that will bring down the deficit – quite adding taxes to people that work – time to CUT OFF THE MOOCHERS.

    Report Post »  
  • Citizen
    Posted on August 31, 2010 at 1:11pm

    The first step is to account for all the money, we need to know where all the money is. The government hides and obfuscates all that information from us, we need congressmen and senators that want to help us get the information and want the system to be accountable.

    We take stock of all the money then look piece by piece to see what is working and efficient and use a steady approach to address what works and what doesn’t.

    We need to find out more about what government does with its money – if we don’t this country is going bankrupt.

    Report Post »  
  • Intelligentsia
    Posted on August 30, 2010 at 11:36pm

    Interesting. Not a liberal or centrist on this site is there? Oops! Not true-

    Welfare needs to be overhauled yes but trusting people to help out others will never work. It never has worked and it never will work. If you had the choice not to have to pay to help out people with disabilities, you wouldn’t. Admit it. Most people will not do a good thing unless they have to, for whatever their justification (not enough money, not enough spare money, not enough for their own children, etc). Are you ready for your blind nephew to come live with you because his parents are dead and can’t take care of him any more?

    How about all those kids those unmarried mothers kick out left and right and drop into the welfare system, either into foster care or need a buck to take care of the six or seven paychecks er- sorry, babies, they have?
    Or how about all those people who have children and do unspeakable things to them because they should have been sterilized rather than be allowed to breed and those kids end up in the system, needing therapy and drugs to keep them relatively sane.

    Who’s gonna pay for all of that? Tell me, honestly, you’d donate enough money to pay for the care and the feeding and the therapy, etc of all those people? All the people with birth defects and disabilities, all the people with expensive congenital disorders that cost $3K a day to keep them alive?

    Really.

    Why don‘t we just let ’em all die or better yet, why don’t we do what we did oh three or four centuries ago and just put them out in the woods and let the animals have a good meal- they’re not good for anything else are they?

    Its great to say all this idealistic stuff and while I DO agree that welfare is broken, too many people say “do away with big government, do away with this or that program” without even considering exactly what the program does and how it makes your lives convenient, safer and above all, free of guilt from seeing all those sick, crazy and deformed people decorating the streets begging for scraps or going nutbar over tea kettle and breaking into your house and slashing you into salsa in your sleep.

    Report Post »  
    • chrism
      Posted on August 31, 2010 at 1:50am

      I agree that some people take it to the extreme rather quickly when we talk about welfare programs, but unfortunately it is an emotional issue, and it’s hard for many to speak on it logically. The question, though, is how to make it better.

      When created, the welfare programs were to help veterans, and instead of having some type of sunset clause (as most bills created) it essentially used concrete to fix a broken window, and made a permanent ‘fix’. Welfare programs could be replaced by private companies if it were profitable. Now imagine if you could receive a tax break when you donated to a for-profit charity. Then we are using less government regulation as the charity is in control, so long as some percent (I’d say 75%-85%) of money donated was actually donated, or the charity would no longer receive the tax break.

      Now my idea is simple, and probably not the best, as I’m not an economist or anything, but these are the types of things we need to be thinking of instead of pointing fingers at each other.

      Report Post »  
    • Citizen
      Posted on August 31, 2010 at 1:23pm

      You do not force people to take care of other people, God himself does not do that, and he could.

      The fact is we are responsible for ourselves, its not the governments job to make sure we have 3 meals a day and a house and a car, That’s ours.

      To make it the governments responsibility is to put too much power in government which goes against what founders wanted for many reasons, One of which is the ability to abuse that power once centrally located.

      Report Post »  
  • kenoshax
    Posted on August 30, 2010 at 10:17pm

    how can I get me some of that sweet government cheese.

    Report Post »  
  • DanWanLi
    Posted on August 30, 2010 at 10:02pm

    Our culture now looks at the government as the provider. No more lessons in life from Charles Ingalls, its now wedded bliss but without the wife from Charlie Rangel.

    Report Post » DanWanLi  
  • Dynachrome
    Posted on August 30, 2010 at 9:41pm

    “government anti-poverty programs serve a record one in six Americans”

    ‘Serve’ is incorrect. These programs make slaves and parasites of the people on them

    Report Post »  
    • TheReasonableLib
      Posted on August 30, 2010 at 10:24pm

      Yes, darn those parasites like my autistic siblings and my blind father. Why can’t they get off their butts and do something for themselves, right?

       
    • skittish
      Posted on August 31, 2010 at 4:00am

      These programs are suppose to be temporary, but they have become permanent in a lot of cases. It is these cases that the system, and our society, has gotten things wrong. It is far too easy to rely on the “free pay check” than to actually work for it. I know, I nearly fell into that trap myself. But luckily God has my back on this. But others, it may not be so easy. And there isn’t always an easy answer for this.

      skittish  
    • Newtie and the Beauty
      Posted on September 2, 2010 at 11:37pm

      TheReasonableLib, there’s a difference between “needy” and “lazy.” Cut the lazy ones off, and more can be done for the needy ones. With all due respect, please learn the difference. What is objected to are the lazy people who CHOOSE to make “Federal Freebies” their way of life, doing nothing in return and whining when “their entitlements” are threatened and the prospect of having to get a job looms on the horizon; the needy ones are truly entitled to all services that help them become the best and most productive they can be. It’s long past time to kick the lazy people off the public teat–a hand-UP is one thing; a perpetual hand-OUT is to be discouraged and frowned upon at all costs. The lazy ones don’t appreciate what they receive; the needy ones are not only appreciative, but put it to best use.

      Report Post »  
  • Philo Beddoe
    Posted on August 30, 2010 at 9:17pm

    How much longer can families live with this budget?

    $90,000.00 a year= 25% tax bracket
    $5,625.00 net
    -$1,500.00 for obama care (est for family of 4, 2014)
    -2,500.00 home mortgage
    -750.00 car payments & insurance
    -$150.00– electric /gas
    -$375.00–Bush tax cuts expire
    This leaves a family of 4 with $350.00 a MONTH to live on.

    Philo Beddoe  
    • chrism
      Posted on August 31, 2010 at 2:08am

      I’m just trying to figure out why a family of four needs a house that costs $2500 a month.. Seems a bit much to me, but maybe you‘re talking about an area that’s a little overly extravagant for a $90k per year income.

       
    • callous
      Posted on August 31, 2010 at 4:12am

      If those are any real families budget numbers I would suggest financial counseling and some math lessons for yourself. You are using marginal tax rate for the net income when you should be calculating effective tax rate, the final percentage of actual tax paid after deductions. Stop complaining about high taxes and start figuring out how to budget yourself and pay the lowest effective rate possible. You will find you pay a lot less than 25% at that income level for a family of four. I won’t even to go into why a family of four making 90k need a $900,000 home…. http://www.ehow.com/way_5202142_effective-tax-rate-calculation.html

       
  • scseahawk
    Posted on August 30, 2010 at 8:55pm

    One sign of our nation’s population having lost a sense of shame….asking someone else to pay your way. There are people who are truly in need of help, but most on the “dole” are gaming the system. One of the perils of having the government run what you and I should be doing for those truly in need.

    Report Post »  
    • DanWanLi
      Posted on August 30, 2010 at 10:05pm

      Right on- when I was a kid we used to pick on the kids on welfare (OK it was me that was getting picked on)… now the kids on welfare are waiving their EBT card at the convenience store during lunch, picking up a six pack of Amp and a bag of doritos.

      Report Post » DanWanLi  
    • tromso
      Posted on August 30, 2010 at 11:07pm

      When I was a kid, I went to my parent’s house once and asked to borrow enough money to pay the rent for my small studio apartment. It was one of the hardest things I’d ever done, and I promised myself it would never happen again. When stuff just shows up in your mailbox, though, a check or a card in an envelope, coming from a faceless government entity, it makes it a lot easier for people to accept their situation, and do nothing to change it.

      Report Post » tromso  

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