With the continued growth of the federal government and vast entitlement programs coupled with the political views of the current administration, who will be left to pay the bills? In his March 4, 2010 Article, William Beach of The Heritage Foundation reviewed the historical trends associated with federal spending and entitlement programs and exposed some very disturbing trends. Mr. Beach noted that:
Despite the famed 1996 Welfare Reform Act and the more recent welfare adjustments in 2006, 60.8 million Americans remain dependent on the government for their daily housing, food, and health care. The number of taxpayers is shrinking–and the country may be rapidly approaching the point where more than one-third of Americans do not pay taxes for benefits they receive….
Starting in 2016, Social Security will not collect enough in taxes to pay all of the promised benefits–which is a problem for all workers, but especially for the roughly half of the American workforce that has no other retirement program.
Add in spiraling academic grants, flat-out farm socialism, and the swelling ranks of Americans who believe themselves entitled to public-sector benefits for which they pay few or no taxes–and Americans must ask themselves whether they are near a tipping point in the nature of their government.
With unemployment figures in double-digits, the recent crisis involving both financial and housing markets and with Obamacare looming, is our system of government tacking hard towards socialism? This country was based on the concept of hard work and self-sufficiency. Decades ago, it was a badge of shame to be out of work or on the government dole. Unfortunately, that belief has been replaced by an entitlement mentality and “what’s in it for me.” I had always told myself that I would never see any of the money I put into Social Security, but I never suspected that my children and their children would pay so heavily for the excesses my generation has heaped upon them. Maybe it’s time to tell our elected leaders to cut federal spending and not to create vast new entitlement programs when we can’t afford the ones in place now.
