Entitlement Mania

There are rumblings by some politicians that the time has come to revert the U.S. back to a free market capitalist nation. The age of entitlement is on us, and our self reliant days long gone. But the "government owes me" mentality has gotten so expensive it has threatened to bankrupt the county, and as a result, the same politicians who have been handing out money (in the form of credit, that is) to win votes, have suddenly started talking a fiscal responsibility game. But is is just for show?

I think the U.S. is at the crossroads economically between staying the wealthiest nation on earth or becoming a much poorer one. To remain economically sound the entitlement mentality must end. At this time 52 percent, up from 49 percent in 2000, of Americans receive significant handouts from government programs. To make matters worse, this year an estimated 50 million Americans (about 45% of the total eligible to pay taxes) will not pay any income taxes. This is up from 18 percent in 1980, and it reflects the lack of self reliance that has replaced the independence and self reliance that made the U.S. so prosperous.

Both Democrats and Republicans like to push tax exemptions for groups they see as their constituencies. They buy support and votes by handing out money as entitlements. The problem is made worse because those who receive the tax breaks almost universally believe they are just, while deductions for others are considered grossly unfair. Thus, "the government should take care of me" has become the mantra for all social and economic classes here. It's frighteningly similar to the socialist mess that Europe adopted after W.W. II and which
has crippled European so badly since. Americans need to re examine their priorities about entitlements.

If the percentage of those receiving income from government continues to increase along with the percentage of those exempt from taxation, fewer citizens will see any need to tax to pay for programs their government must pay for. Debt will continue to rise. The problem is the desire for more freebies from government keeps going up. What this country needs is for every person to pay some taxes, and for every entitlement program to be frozen reduced or eliminated until the U.S. is fiscally sound. But this is highly unlikely to happen.

According to the Heritage Foundation, about 1 in 5 Americans hold a government job or a job reliant on federal spending. Approximately the same number receives Social Security or a government pension. About 19 million get food stamps while another 2 million receive subsidized housing. Another 5 million get education grants there are limits on how much government can provide without impairing the economy. In 1950, only 28 percent of Americans received income from the government, but by 2040 it is projected to reach 60 percent! I think it not a reach to declare the U.S a socialist state.With the absence of taxes, deficit spending and debt, the ever expanding public payroll, I wondered if we are moving toward a day when children will be taken to visit an amazing curiosity, the Last Taxpayer.

Haha I hope it isn't me. Entitlements by far account for the majority of mandatory spending done by the government today. They are programs that require the government to pay benefits to people based on eligibility criteria established by law. There are over 200 entitlement programs, but only 21 of them consume 97% of all entitlement spending. Most of these are social welfare programs, which can fall into one of two categories, means tested and non means tested.
Means tested programs, such as Medicaid, Food Stamps, and family support programs, give out benefits to those "in need" (or alleged to be in need), to those who fall into a certain category of being of lower income. These programs comprise 20% of all entitlement spending. To receive benefits through non means tested programs you could be a billionaire or you could be homeless. Rich and poor alike get checks from the government through such programs as Social Security, Medicare, unemployment compensation, and retirement programs. These comprise 80% of federal entitlement spending, but seem impossible to cut because voters feel they are entitled to them and even demand unreasonable payments from them relative to what they have contributed in taxes or program payments.

Examples of some of the wasteful entitlements could fill a book the size of the great epic novel, War and Peace.
-The U.S. government will spend $2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job.
-Health care fraud is estimated to cost taxpayers more than $60 billion annually
-It will spend $126 million in 2009 to enhance the Kennedy family in Massachusetts. Additionally, congress diverted $20 million from the 2010 defense budget to subsidize a new Edward M. Kennedy Institute.
-Fraud related to Hurricane Katrina spending is estimated to top $2 billion. From what I have seen here it could be even higher.
- Congress recently spent $2.4 billion on 10 new jets that the Pentagon insists it does not need and will not use because the military contractors are "entitled to it"
-The Conservation Reserve program pays farmers $2 billion annually not to farm their land. Farmers get rich on their entitlement to not farm.-A Department of Agriculture report concedes that much of the $2.5 billion in “stimulus” funding for broad band Internet will be wasted.

Those are just a few. Of course the biggest waste, excess in benefits is in the Medicare and social security programs. Those have become a treasure of votes for politicians who dare not be honest with recipients of those funds. They remind them of the great lie that they deserve far more in benefits than recipients earn in the small payments they made into those programs.

Unless the political structure is honest with voters and makes huge cuts in entitlements the U.S. is doomed to fall into insignificance in the decades ahead. Wanna bet if that happens? I think not.