The lie about government dependency

When you see figures about how many Americans receive government benefits they are often distortions of the truth.

They tend to include social security, medicare, and unemployment insurance. But those aren't really benefits in that in order to get any of them people have had to pay taxes for a long time.

If one looks at those cases where the government gives something to people who have contributed nothing we see a very different picture of the dependent class in America.

Roughly 1/3 of Americans receive means tested welfare.

By grouping people who are receiving that they paid for, ie social security, along with people who are getting a free ride via welfare is very disingenuous.  The Federal government spends about $717 billion each year on welfare programs that don't require people to have paid the government in the past and States contribute another $219 billion each year.  That's nearly a trillion dollars each year in welfare.

Clearly some welfare is well spent; we need to care for the disabled and those who are trying to work but can't find a job in the Obama economy.  But to say that all of that is well spent in light of the multitudes of scandals--such as people having 3 or more Obamaphones--is not reasonable.

But in any case grouping people who are receiving benefits they worked for in with those on welfare is a deliberate attempt to confuse the issue by liberals desperate to expand government and hence their own power.

One liberal told me that those who have retired to the military are on the government dole because of their military pensions as though having been willing to risk their lives defending America for 20 years was not a payment.