+16 It's ridiculous how there are so many stating that welfare/entitlement recipients are moochers and that the US is becoming an entitlement society when in fact, over 90% of recipients actually do work, are disabled, or are elderly. Amirite?

by Anonymous 10 years ago

"Some conservative critics of federal social programs, including leading presidential candidates, are sounding an alarm that the United States is rapidly becoming an 'entitlement society' in which social programs are undermining the work ethic and creating a large class of Americans who prefer to depend on government benefits rather than work. A new CBPP analysis of budget and Census data, however, shows that more than 90 percent of the benefit dollars that entitlement and other mandatory programs[1] spend go to assist people who are elderly, seriously disabled, or members of working households — not to able-bodied, working-age Americans who choose not to work. (See Figure 1.) This figure has changed little in the past few years." http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3677

by Anonymous 10 years ago

It should be noted though that the CBPP is considered a liberal think tank.

by Anonymous 10 years ago

Oh I learned something about this on Friday, time to put a little of my new-found info to the test. First off, I do agree it's ridiculous. Some people use government assistance for real things, while some don't. I've known those who do and those who don't. Not all of them are, but the few of them that are moochers simply ruin the name of those who really need it. When it comes to being considered mooching, though, that's a little bit the cause of social security. People, mostly illegal immigrants, are finding ways to take out of the funds without taxes to put them back in. My math's not so good, but if you take out more than you put in, won't that eventually hit zero? Anyways, that's where I think the whole "mooching" concept surfaces most, and that situation can be related to actual people. They get government assistance, and some of them don't work. It's very hard to do, but some people can live off just government assistance. They're depleting the funds because they're too selfish (or sometimes simply unable) to put anything back into the pool. Eh. I guess it all depends on who's being given the money. No matter what, the system will always be abused. That's just how it is.

by Anonymous 10 years ago

Tidbit,. illegal immigrants and undocumented workers may be mooching as is said.....yet they seem to have jobs contributing to the tax base....not all.....,as well as paying SS. Many use false SS numbers for a while until they are exposed. Trying to make ends meet????? So where does the taxation go and into what coffer? Probably the mooching coffer for sure. So is the problem to many social programs or not enough moochers? nme

by Anonymous 10 years ago

I was talking about those who didn't have jobs that put income back into the system. If they have a job, they are putting money back in, and do deserve to take some out when they can. If they have a job and are taking out SS at the same time, they're bound to be caught in a snap. I think the problem is the unreliability of where our money is going for social programs. Not only is the SS money being taken out by those who don't put any in, but our government takes some out to use for other things and doesn't put any back in. It's as much legal fault as illegal.

by Anonymous 10 years ago

Like the fly on the wall Ley, I'd like to be in on the dole of misappropriations of SS money myself......human nature I guess. Yet you are so right, The players of the cash cow (SS) have been misappropriating these funds by using them like the general fund tax dollars for years, (SS is a tax) and we find the fascists corporate shadow government manipulating our elected officials. This is the design of the tax system for Bankster's of World Money, to enslave us, i.e., to become serfdom workers bees of the Lords of Mammon, the controlling elite. History repeats itself when the generations of the past fall away and there is no memory of there charlatan deeds. The equation is old as time, divide the masses into confusion and bickering between each other. Keeping the focus off of the shadows of their robber baron mentality. While we think our elected officials can do anything about the ensuing political dilemma their at work behind the seen creating more confutation as lawyers in a lawsuit. The bigger picture is more than the sum of the seemly obvious problems projected by the media and congressional dysfunction, all derived to mislead the masses, (us). It's a way of life for the controllers of wages and war. Stop that and we will solve our real needs as a nation and our planet.

by Anonymous 10 years ago

Of course with power comes corruption, and I doubt those with the power to take whatever money they want will willfully give up such a power. That's why the government officials don't change a thing really. Nothing too dramatic, nothing that affects them. They want to stay in power, stay with their wealthy incomes, and keep being in the most wealthiest percentiles of the nation. No-one wants to give up money for the good of their country. That's just now how America works, at least. From what I've seen.

by Anonymous 10 years ago

Even if they are "moochers" - they are an essential part of the economic web. Understanding the role of those who choose to live off society's charity is a complex task that can best be explained in comparison to the role of mosquitoes or tapeworms, the "why" of their existence is not as clear as the "why" of say, decompositional microbes, (or is it?) The so called //market// is a very complex mechanism. Removing "moochers" (i.e., able bodied persons avoiding employment and //gaming// the system) from the model has far reaching consequences to the overall stasis of the system. The fact that they are able to //game// a very complex system fraught with red-tape and roadblocks indicates that those few are in-fact //working// and //succeeding// in a milieu that is unfathomable to the average person. Those few (10% [or whatever] of the recipients) are performing considerably above the average, and they are //earning// money from a very complex industry with much effort, and they should be applauded, not disparaged by those who do not have the wherewithal to weather the difficulties of surviving as "mooch" legally and within the confines of the byzantine labyrinth of regulations.

by Anonymous 10 years ago

it's actually less than 10% and even the recipients that are part of that less than 10% not all of them are "moochers" they're using the system only temporarily until they find their jobs

by Anonymous 10 years ago

You know I often do not need to see your avatar or name to recognize a post as yours. It's like "we recognize the lion by the claw marks). You are that unique my Neo-Wattian friend. These "moochers" are as necessary to the economy as a cavity is to a tooth. Even without knowing the far-reaching affects of tooth decay (on the body), most people would agree that eliminating it would be a good thing. I cannot imagine how consuming useful products and services, while offering none in return, is beneficial to the economy. If there are people who work harder at not working than they would have if they had actual jobs, I would say the current system gives incentives for the wrong behavior. Of course I'm not suggesting the elimination of programs that help the poor. I think doing that would only hasten the development of favelas. The most troubling part of all this to me is that the middle class is being eliminated. Once this happens there will be zero economic mobility.

by Anonymous 10 years ago

that's because you guys are buds outside of amirite

by Anonymous 10 years ago

Is that true? Can you not recognize the poster (as Vic) before seeing the Avatar?

by Anonymous 10 years ago

I can but there's a better chance you would know because you have that advantage you definitely know better than I do

by Anonymous 10 years ago

That's true. VicZinc is a beautiful human being. You probably know that. I just know it better.

by Anonymous 10 years ago

yes I agree with that entire comment

by Anonymous 10 years ago

"I cannot imagine how consuming useful products and services, while offering none in return, is beneficial to the economy." My point exactly. We cannot imagine. Just like we could not imagine how eliminating unsanitary conditions during childbirth could hurt anything, until it caused a polio epidemic. We never know. How about the welfare fraud investigators that would suddenly be out of work if they had no job to perform? "Pave Paradise" you don't know what you got 'till its gone...

by Anonymous 10 years ago