Activist Post
There are more Americans dependent on the federal government than ever before in U.S. history. 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. Many are enrolled in more than one. That is about a third of the entire population of the country. Sadly, that figure does not even include Social Security or Medicare.
Today the federal government runs almost 80 different "means-tested welfare programs", and almost all of those programs have experienced substantial growth in recent years.
Yes, we will always need a "safety net" for those that cannot take care of themselves, but it is absolutely ridiculous that the federal government is financially supporting one-third of all Americans. How much farther do things really need to go before we finally admit that we have become a socialist nation? At the rate we are going, it will not be too long before half the nation is on welfare. Unfortunately, we will likely never get to that point because the gigantic debt that we are currently running up will probably destroy our financial system before that ever happens.
It is really hard to believe how rapidly some of these federal welfare programs have grown.
For example, the number of Americans on food stamps has grown from about 17 million in 2000 to 31.9 million when Barack Obama took office to 46.4 million today.
The federal government spent a staggering 71.8 billion dollars on the food stamp program in 2011.
That sure is a lot of money to spend on food.
And I thought that my grocery bills were high.
Medicaid is also growing like crazy.
The number of Americans on Medicaid grew from 34 million in 2000 to 54 million in 2011.
Once upon a time, Medicaid was supposed to help the poorest of the poor get medical care. In fact, back in 1965 only about one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid.
But now about one-sixth of the entire country is on Medicaid.
Will we all eventually be on Medicaid?
As I mentioned recently, It is being projected that Obamacare will add 16 million more Americans to the Medicaid rolls.
And we all know that projections like that are usually way too low.
Other federal welfare programs are exploding in size as well.
For example, federal housing assistance increased by a whopping 42 percent between 2006 and 2010.
The chart posted below was produced by Senate Budget Committee Republican staff. As you can see, the number of Americans on welfare just continues to grow and grow and grow....
It is really hard to believe how rapidly some of these federal welfare programs have grown.
For example, the number of Americans on food stamps has grown from about 17 million in 2000 to 31.9 million when Barack Obama took office to 46.4 million today.
The federal government spent a staggering 71.8 billion dollars on the food stamp program in 2011.
That sure is a lot of money to spend on food.
And I thought that my grocery bills were high.
Medicaid is also growing like crazy.
The number of Americans on Medicaid grew from 34 million in 2000 to 54 million in 2011.
Once upon a time, Medicaid was supposed to help the poorest of the poor get medical care. In fact, back in 1965 only about one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid.
But now about one-sixth of the entire country is on Medicaid.
Will we all eventually be on Medicaid?
As I mentioned recently, It is being projected that Obamacare will add 16 million more Americans to the Medicaid rolls.
And we all know that projections like that are usually way too low.
Other federal welfare programs are exploding in size as well.
For example, federal housing assistance increased by a whopping 42 percent between 2006 and 2010.
The chart posted below was produced by Senate Budget Committee Republican staff. As you can see, the number of Americans on welfare just continues to grow and grow and grow....
Keep in mind that the chart posted above does not even take into account the huge numbers of Americans that are on Social Security and Medicare.
In the United States today, more than 61 million Americans receive some form of Social Security benefits.
Just think about that.
That means that nearly one out of every five Americans is drawing on Social Security.
That is just crazy.
And in the years ahead we are going to see wave after wave of Baby Boomers retire and so the number of Americans drawing on Social Security is just going to keep going up.
The same kind of thing is happening with Medicare.
As I wrote about the other day, it is being projected that the number of Americans on Medicare will grow from 50.7 million in 2012 to 73.2 million in 2025.
Ouch.
That sure does sound expensive.
If you can believe it, Medicare is facing unfunded liabilities of more than 38 trillion dollars over the next 75 years.
That comes to approximately $328,404 for each and every household in the United States.
Will you be able to pay your share?
And that is just for Medicare.
The federal government just keeps becoming a bigger and bigger part of the health care industry.
Back in 1990, the federal government accounted for just 32 percent of all health care spending in America.
This year, it is being projected that the federal government will account for more than 50 percent of all health care spending in the United States.
Americans have become completely and totally addicted to government money, and word has gotten out to other nations that the U.S. is a place where you can live the high life at the expense of the government.
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.
Keep in mind that the study only looked at immigrants that have been in the country for at least two decades.
Nearly half of them are still on welfare.
Needless to say, the system is fundamentally broken.
And there is no way in the world that we can afford all of this. We have rolled up the biggest pile of debt in the history of the world and our children and our grandchildren are facing a lifetime of endless debt slavery.
Once again this year we are facing a federal budget deficit of well over a trillion dollars, and very few of our politicians even seem to care.
We just continue to spend money as if it was going out of style.
At this point, spending by the federal government accounts for more than 25 percent of U.S. GDP.
The last time that happened was during World War II when we were trying to rescue the world from the tyranny of the Germans and the Japanese.
If you divided up the U.S. national debt equally, it would come to more than $134,000 for every single household in the United States.
Ack.
Overall, the U.S. national debt has gotten more than 37 times larger than it was when Nixon took us off the gold standard.
We are a nation of debt addicts, and both political parties have been responsible for getting us into this mess.
We simply cannot afford to continue to go down this road. We need to significantly reduce all categories of government spending.
And yes, we will always need a safety net.
But we simply cannot afford to financially support more than 100 million Americans.
That is absolute madness and it must stop.
So what do you think about all of this?
Please feel free to post a comment with your thoughts below....
You can support this information by voting on Reddit HERE
In the United States today, more than 61 million Americans receive some form of Social Security benefits.
Just think about that.
That means that nearly one out of every five Americans is drawing on Social Security.
That is just crazy.
And in the years ahead we are going to see wave after wave of Baby Boomers retire and so the number of Americans drawing on Social Security is just going to keep going up.
The same kind of thing is happening with Medicare.
As I wrote about the other day, it is being projected that the number of Americans on Medicare will grow from 50.7 million in 2012 to 73.2 million in 2025.
Ouch.
That sure does sound expensive.
If you can believe it, Medicare is facing unfunded liabilities of more than 38 trillion dollars over the next 75 years.
That comes to approximately $328,404 for each and every household in the United States.
Will you be able to pay your share?
And that is just for Medicare.
The federal government just keeps becoming a bigger and bigger part of the health care industry.
Back in 1990, the federal government accounted for just 32 percent of all health care spending in America.
This year, it is being projected that the federal government will account for more than 50 percent of all health care spending in the United States.Americans have become completely and totally addicted to government money, and word has gotten out to other nations that the U.S. is a place where you can live the high life at the expense of the government.
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.
Keep in mind that the study only looked at immigrants that have been in the country for at least two decades.
Nearly half of them are still on welfare.
Needless to say, the system is fundamentally broken.
And there is no way in the world that we can afford all of this. We have rolled up the biggest pile of debt in the history of the world and our children and our grandchildren are facing a lifetime of endless debt slavery.
Once again this year we are facing a federal budget deficit of well over a trillion dollars, and very few of our politicians even seem to care.
We just continue to spend money as if it was going out of style.
At this point, spending by the federal government accounts for more than 25 percent of U.S. GDP.
The last time that happened was during World War II when we were trying to rescue the world from the tyranny of the Germans and the Japanese.
If you divided up the U.S. national debt equally, it would come to more than $134,000 for every single household in the United States.
Ack.
Overall, the U.S. national debt has gotten more than 37 times larger than it was when Nixon took us off the gold standard.
We are a nation of debt addicts, and both political parties have been responsible for getting us into this mess.
We simply cannot afford to continue to go down this road. We need to significantly reduce all categories of government spending.
And yes, we will always need a safety net.
But we simply cannot afford to financially support more than 100 million Americans.
That is absolute madness and it must stop.
So what do you think about all of this?
Please feel free to post a comment with your thoughts below....
You can support this information by voting on Reddit HERE
This article first appeared here at the American Dream. Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream and Economic Collapse Blog. Follow him on Twitter here.
16 comments:
So does this include farm/oil subsidies and corporate welfare? What about all the money being thrown at the military industrial complex? I think i rather have my tax dollars go to help someone eat or have decent housing than for it to go to death and destruction.
Who cares if it's a "socialist nation?" That's just some meaningless label. What I care about is that so many people can't get a job that pays enough to support their family. Here's why there are so many people on the dole:
48 percent of all Americans are either considered to be "low income" or are living in poverty.
Approximately 57 percent of all children in the United States are living in homes that are either considered to be "low income" or impoverished.
There are fewer payroll jobs in the United States today than there were back in 2000 , but we have added 30 million extra people to the population since then.
About 20 percent of all U.S. adults are currently working jobs that pay poverty-level wages.
In 1980, less than 30% of all jobs in the United States were low income jobs. Today, more than 40% of all jobs in the United States are low income jobs.
The total net worth of U.S. households declined by 4.1 percent in the 3rd quarter of 2011 alone.
48.5% of all Americans live in a household that receives some form of government benefits. Back in 1983, that number was below 30 percent.
According to a study that was just released, CEO pay at America's biggest companies rose by 36.5% in one recent 12 month period.
The "too big to fail" banks have grown larger than ever. The total assets of the six largest U.S. banks increased by 39 percent between September 30, 2006 and September 30, 2011.
Between 1979 and 2007, net income for the top 1% income earners in the U.S. grew by about 275%, while net income of the bottom 20% of earners grew by only 18%.
The six heirs of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton have a net worth about equal to the bottom 30 percent of all Americans combined.
For sources, go to http://bitetochange.blogspot.com/2011/12/way-things-are-or-death-of-liberal.html
the author misses the point. its not that we're spending money to provide welfare. its the fact that 100 million people need welfare.
Shared on my photo blog from the heart of it all.
Porches of Dayton: Americana in the Midwest
http://americanadyt.blogspot.com/
Social Security is NOT welfare. It is system by which WE pay into it over time to receive a pension after retirement. That is not welfare.
Neither is Medicare. We also pay into that as well. Neither is unemployment insurance (it's insurance..get it???).
Just the fact that you lumped into SS and Medicare into the article totally discredits everything else.
Also, Welfare and Medicaid are administered at the state level which then transfers the money to local counties.
I work for the dept of commerce. I have no idea where this figure of 100,000 million Americans are receiving some form of welfare. According to the US Census Bureau 49% of all Americans are receiving some form of government entitlement program, which includes social security, Medicare, welfare, foodstamps, Medicaid & subsidies to the wealthiest 2%. Most Americans collect more than 1 benefit as for example social security, foodstamps, senior housing & Medicare or foodstamps & Medicaid.
As to immigrants collecting benefits: only American Citizens can collect foodstamps, welfare, or Medicaid. The only thing immigrants without citizenship can collect is social security. The only exception to this rule is predominantly Cuban refugees & Russian Jews.
As to the author being indignant over working-class Americans collecting much needed help from the government. What about big corporations & the welfare programs they collect, which dwarf anything that working class Americans get. For example, did you know the US dept of Agriculture spends 4-6% annully on administrative costs and only 4-6% on programs for the "poor" like wic, foodstamps, or farm subsidies to mom & POP farms. Whereas a whopping 88% goes to the 3 largest agribusinesses in the US, I.e. Monsanto, cargill, etc. In fact, JP Morgan receives now 10% of all the food stamp money for "overseeing" the program just like the post office although the agency runs itself.
It's true that during the first Bush presidency & now under the Obama one, foodstamps rolls went up significantly. However, the debate in Congress was- a WPA jobs program or foodstamps & congress decided for the foodstamp option to keep unemployment high to keep wages low to benefit big businesses. As a congressman added, if we give foodstamps instead, we also have the added benefit that the money will be spent in the local communities & we can just tax the small grocery owners instead". After all, if wealthy corporations dont pay taxes it means small businesses have to pay it instead.
I'm tired of reading so many mean-spirited news articles. This is why the majority of the country either doesn't work or is under-employed, because instead of focusing why our citizens & their hapless children or grandparents are hungry, they are demonizing them & by doing so diverting the attention to those in need of demonizing -the real sources of poverty, I.e the banks & big industry & especially our government which is owned & operated by these big corps for their benefits.if the country suffers they don't care, they just pack up their crackerjack box banks & move to another country.
This article is a lie. There are no 100 million on welfare. Many of those getting foodstamps are also eligible for medicaid. By counting refusing to factor in this fact, the exaggeration of 100 million is pronounced a "fact."
And nowhere is it mentioned why there are 16 million more on foodstamps than under Bush in 2006.
The reason is simple: the Bush recession of 2008-9 cost 8 million jobs. With average family size of 2.8, that means that about 20 million people, by virtue of being laid off, became eligible for unemployment (which we pay for in payroll taxes) and in many cases foodstamps and medicaid. 2/3 of those receiving these are children.
There are about 4.4 million on family assistance (TANF), with a maximum of $900 a month for a family of 4. The average TANF household has 2.8 members: mom and almost 2 kids.
Foodstamps went up to feed the families of the 8 million who lost their jobs in 2 years. Likewise with Medicaid.
And all this assistance goes to needy families.
No mention is made of the 122 billion that goes in subsidies to 3 wealthy industries: finance, telecommunications, and energy. Subsidies to corporations are twice as high as the cost of TANF and SNAP. I can see helping the unfortunate. I don't get giving billions to the richest corporations in all history.
So what we have is an attack on aid to the needy and the poor, ie the disabled and the unemployed, with most recipients being children. There is no counterattack on the rich corporations which take far more than these programs to aid needy people and chldren.
Therefore, it is merely propaganda, part of any effort to demonize help to those who need it while justifying huge subsidies to those who do not. This is propaganda on behalf of the 1%, using partisan sources to bolster the lie of 100 million on welfare.
And it's worth noting that millions of those on foodstamps work but do not earn enough to pay the bills. The average Walmart employee makes $8.80 and hour and so, if there is a family, qualifies for foodstamps and medicaid. These programs act as a subsidy to Walmart, allowing it to pay substandard wages and keep employees who are forced onto welfare programs. The cost of employment is shifted to the taxpayers.
Examples of the working poor who get govt aid because their pay is not a living wage includes 25% of all military families, which receive foodstamps.
The large population of those who get government assistance is a product of the failed economic policies of the Bush era (in 8 yrs, with 22 million new Americans, negative private sector jobs were created...leading to millions needing government assistance.)
And it is a fact that the number on family assistance (TANF) has fallen nearly 40% since Clinton's last years and lower than Bush's TANF numbers. Foodstamps is up due to the victims of the Bush recession the 8 million who lost their jobs.
To focus only on programs for the poor, the unemployed, the disabled, children, and the poor elderly is to ignore the giant welfare for corporations (222 billion last year in subsidies).
The difference is: the corps don't need it but those who have lost their jobs or who are disabled do.
To complain of helping the poor while ignoring the huge pillage of the commons by the giant corporations is an act of deception, meant to justify cutting programs for the poort (the REpubs in the House voted to cut 832 million in the Emergency Food Progam, and they want to cut foodstamps. Let them eat cake!
How many f'n illegals do we have to let in here to rape our country!!! Mexico sucks, because it's full of Mexicans. Now America sucks for the same reason. Fuck this shit.
I just wanted to add that only 4.4 million Americans are collecting "welfare" benefits, which by the way has a 7 year time limit. Women who collect welfare, also don't collect it for free. Most need to meet a 30-40 hr a week work schedule. In other words, they're collecting less than minimum wage for working. I know women who work 40 hrs a week to collect welfare checks as puny as $320 a month. Many companies actual fire minimum wage workers to hire welfare workers for less. It's a big scam. True 54 million maybe on Medicaid. However, out of the 33 million on foodstamps, most also collect Medicaid, so its disingenuous to say 100 million are collecting welfare benefits by counting people two or three times because they collect more than one benefit. Moreover, the majority of people on Medicaid or foodstamps also tend to work. Of those who are not working, its because they're on social security or SSI. contrary to opinion, many people on SSI also paid into the system, especially women who have contributed for 10 years or more, but didn't work the last 10 years before turning 62 because they were stay at home moms or were caretakers for their elderly parents.
Social Security is not a government hand out to people retiring. Remember the millions of dollars paid into that fund that has been raped by our elected officials for decades?
I am amazed you are ignorant enough to put welfare and social security of retiring people in the same article. How did you get this job?
Those folks now beginnning to get social security would have done much better personally investing the money they involuntarily surrendered to our federal government. Raising the starting age one year each decade into the future makes social security solvent on its own.
During President Lyndon B Johnson's administration when the great society programs were passed including the food stamp program, it was not passed to reward people for not working, it was passed to subsidize the food industry and corporate retail super market box stores that pay their employees poverty level wages.
You have to look at the whole scenario to get the entire picture.
Wake-up America! Stop wearing horse blinders with a coachman at the reins!
"The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat." 2 Thessalonians 3:10
If the baby boom generation had invested their money on Wall Street it would have been a crap shoot and they would now be sucking their thumb.
What sort of person writes an article blaming the people for the problems created by fascist war mongering bankster scum?
Such a lengthy detailed critique of people who want good food housing and health care, and not one word about billion dollar military toys or our immoral wars.
Greasy, really greasy.
this article spews ignorant right-wing lies and does not merit inclusion on this site. We do not need any more lies and propaganda, there is plenty of it on corporate media...
Post a Comment