The hand that feeds you
From Elizabeth MacDonald writing at
FOX Business:
Government Cash Handouts Now Top Tax Revenues
U.S. households are now getting more in cash handouts from the government than they are paying in taxes for the first time since the Great Depression.
Households received $2.3 trillion in some kind of government support in 2010. That includes expanded unemployment benefits, as well as payments for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and stimulus spending, among other things.
But that�s more than the $2.2 trillion households paid in taxes, an amount that has slumped largely due to the recession, according to an analysis by the Fiscal Times.
More:
And the handouts from the government have been growing. Government cash handouts account for a whopping 79% of household growth since 2007, even as household tax payments--for things like the income and payroll tax, among other taxes--have fallen by $312 billion.
Lumping things like Veterans' benefits into the entitlement programs is wrong and these numbers need to be reworked.
Still, she goes on and talks about the money is now coming from DC and not from entrepreneurs -- something that should be a big wakeup call for people. We do not want to be like Greece in another ten years. She closes with this question:
So the question is: What government policies will bring the U.S. labor market back to robust health, enough to drive economic growth, consumer spending -- and higher tax revenues?
When will the U.S. government pull back from its intervention into the U.S. economy, so the economy can try to stand on its own?
And the answer?
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crickets
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Posted by DaveH at April 21, 2011 1:05 PM