Entitled To What?

When discussions about cutting "entitlements" begin again you ought to require that politicians not get off so easily by naming the bogey man upon whom we can all then focus our anger.  You need to force them to identify which so called "entitlements" they intend to tinker with in order to  address our deficit spending.

Included under the umbrella of entitlements is of course Social Security for retired senior citizens.  But as anybody who has ever paid any attention knows, you don't get to collect unless you paid in, and the amount you collect is tied directly to the amount you paid in.

Also included is the government run health care program of Medicare, which is likewise available for all senior citizens.

Then there are other government paychecks which are included in the concept of entitlements.  Take for example food stamps.  The next time you are at WalMart in the check out line with what little food you can afford and you see a young couple with carts loaded with groceries, look to see how they pay for those.  You might see them pull out what looks like a credit card and swipe it to make payment.  Does it look like an American Flag?  Probably a food stamp card.

Then there are the checks mailed to people each month who are on disability.  These too are part of the "entitlements" handed out by the government.  And how has this program been managed?    According to Gateway Pundit, Barack Obama put 3.1 million Americans on disability from June 2009 to July 2012. Obama only created 2.6 million jobs in the same period. (IBD)  The  number of people collecting disability checks hit a new high in December of this year. Nearly 90,000 workers signed up for federal disability benefits in December — the biggest increase for that month in the program’s history.

I'm sure we need a safety net in our nation, but when it comes to making changes, let's leave seniors alone and take a look at how tightly woven is the net which represents the new welfare state.

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Comments

[Bob in Lexington]

What about taking a look at the entitlements afforded the folks in Washington? The pay scale, the benefits, the healthcare far beyond what the rest of us have available, and a golden parachute to boot. What about the corporate welfare? what about the money we paid to save wall street..how about those guys paying us back instead of getting bonuses? A shopping cart full of groceries doesn’t piss me off nearly as much as the expense report turned in by a congressman.