Oh, the faux Liberal outrage over Mitt Romney’s 47% comment. The man did speak the truth. Albeit in a roundabout way. And 76% of people polled actually agree with it.
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2012/09/18/cnbc_poll_75_agree_with_romneys_47_comments
Has the US been reduced to a nation of parasites? Examination of the facts results in a disturbing trend.
OK, maybe Mitt could have been more “eloquent,” as he himself stated. The delineation was not made very clear between those who are “entitled” to the very entitlements that they themselves have paid into and those who feed off the government trough.
However, there is merit to what Mitt Romney has stated and it begs the bigger question: should those with a vested interest in receiving long-term government benefits that they have not paid into participate in the election process? Does the public at large intellectually understand the dire situation that our country is in?
I am certain that our forefathers never envisioned the United States as a parasite nation, with the host being an overbloated government, sucked dry with only 53% of the population feeding Federal taxes into it. It stands to reason that those who pander to the status quo and proliferate it will continue to be voted into office. Face it, who on the receiving end would ever willingly vote out their meal ticket?? How can it be conveyed that Lifers will no longer be tolerated when the beneficiaries are part of the process?
The US is at a critical juncture. The remnants of the decline of civilizations greater than this are littered throughout history. Government is the beast demanding to be fed. Funny thing, the more you feed it, the more it devours you.
The federal government runs over 70 different means-tested anti-poverty programs that provide cash, food, housing, medical care, and social services to poor and low-income persons. These means-tested programs—including food stamps, public housing, low-income energy assistance, and Medicaid—pay the bills and meet the physical needs of tens of millions of low-income families. However, these programs do not help the recipients move from a position of dependence on the government to being able to provide for themselves.
Only one welfare program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), promotes greater self-reliance.
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/06/confronting-the-unsustainable-growth-of-welfare-entitlements-principles-of-reform-and-the-next-steps
70 different programs?? Let’s not forget that the food stamp program alone has increased by 44% in 4 years.
Let’s also remember that the TANF program is the very same that the Obama Administration just gutted.
This massive, unending growth in welfare aid is not what President Johnson had in mind when he launched the War on Poverty in 1964. Johnson never intended to produce an ever-increasing system of government aid and a growing population that is dependent on the government. Instead, he actually sought to shrink the welfare state by curing causes of poverty. Rather than seeking to expand the welfare state, Johnson hoped to eliminate the future need for welfare by making the poor self-sufficient and prosperous.
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/06/confronting-the-unsustainable-growth-of-welfare-entitlements-principles-of-reform-and-the-next-steps
Total welfare spend in the 1999 – 2008 decade was $5 Trillion. It is projected to double to $10 Trillion in the decade 2009 – 2018 in President Obama’s last submitted budget. I am sure that this is not what LBJ envisioned.
The cycle of spending has to end. And it unfortunately will not be our choice. America’s hand may be forced by the sheer fact that we have run out of funds. This may indeed mean the end of Social Programs as we know them. It is well beyond time to get a grip. Step one must be the elimination of the greatest spendthrift of our time. The US can no longer afford Barack Obama.