Government handouts are 1/3 of US salaries
Cortillaen sends us a link from the UK’s Daily Mail which reports that one-third of US salaries are the result of government handouts;
The payouts – including Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance – are placing an increasing burden on the state at a time it is trying to dig itself out from a mountain of debt.
And economists fear the toll on taxpayers will only increase further if quick action isn’t taken before the majority of baby boomers reach retirement age.
MSNBC writes;
Social welfare benefits have increased by $514 billion over the last two years, according to TrimTabs figures, in part because of measures implemented to fight the financial crisis.
Yeah, but both sides of the budget battle would prefer to cut veterans’ pay and benefits instead of hacking away at what’s really dangerous for the economy. Of course, that’s because veterans squeal less, and there are more welfare voters than veteran voters.
Category: Veteran Health Care, Veterans Issues
Only one thing wrong with that premise. I have been paying into SS and medicare for nearly 40 years now. It is not a handout if you pay for it yourself. But I’m willing to make a deal. Give me back every dime plus interest I ever paid in and force the military to keep their promise of lifetime health care that was given, then taken away while I was still active duty, and I’ll call us even.
I’ve heard it said you can’t run a government like a household, but I disagree. One basic priniciple applies in both: what you have coming in has to pay for what you have going out. If I took my pay every month and spent it all on my favorite things (books and music), I would very quickly not have the money for my home, my car, my food, etc. I have to pay my bills BEFORE I go play…not the other way around.
The government should be no different.
Bill, the problem with SS in general is that the money you paid into it is already gone. Any payments you get back will actually be the money my generation is paying into it, and that cycle is slated to continue ad infinitum since almost no politicians have the guts to admit that SS is a giant, government-perpetrated ponzi scheme, much less go about fixing it. Further, the Supreme Court has ruled that, having paid into SS all your life, you still have no contractual right to get anything back. The government can declare you ineligible to receive any SS payments with little more than a brief hearing. This is because of the structure of SS, admitted by FDR to be by design, that money paid into SS is not held for you but used at government discretion.
In short, it’s not a handout, per se, but it’s not the return of your own money, either. Your money is already gone, spent at the whims of the government. SS is just going to keep growing and consuming ever more of the government budget (it’s already larger than the DoD budget) until the taxes necessary to keep the ponzi scheme going strangle the economy. I simply get to accept that everything I’ve already paid in, and everything I ever will, are gone for good, that I’ll never see that money again. Some kind of deal has to be worked out that lets current workers get out of the sucker role while not depriving older people of benefits they were promised and paid for their whole lives, and the longer we kick the can down the road, the more it’s going to hurt when have to stop.
Bill,
I understand your frustration!! But C is correct. We won’t see a penny of our money and I do not want to take it from my kids. This scheme just has to be ended.
Pinot- You are also correct. When I did supply in the Army (one of many other hats) the Army cost for a huge bottle of Octagon detergent was 2.00. I could go to the store and get the same amount for .99!! Who in their right budget mind would pay double!? Uncle. Need I say more?
The term “handout” used in the title of this piece is a misnomer, but I’m sure expecting you to change it to conform with, uh, reality would be too much to ask for.
Joe,
You’re right in that “Handout” is a pejorative term that groups all payments to individuals in the same unsavory sack. To be fair, the term used by MSNBC, “Social Welfare” seeks to legitimize money doled out in exchange for votes by association with retirement pay, benefits, and the salaries/wages of those who work for the government (in any capacity).