This should make the Dems happy..... and the rest of us
afraid...
It should make you afraid, because it's your fault.
Note that they conflate social welfare with welfare. They define
social welfare as anything that isn't military.
They also declare a conflict between increasing earned wages and
decreasing welfare, not even coming up with the idea that the
way to reduce welfare *IS* to increase earned wages.
They do mention the economic problems as a contributor to the
problem, but fail to make it clear that the recession, following
8 years of Bush league economics, is the actual cause of the
problem.
We democrats want to end welfare, by having enough jobs to
employ all who need a job. Do that and welfare becomes moot,
except for the very few who are so severly handicapped they will
never be able to work.
Oh, and they strongly imply social security is welfare, and a
major cause of the problem.
========================================
http://www.cnbc.com/id/41969508
Welfare State: Handouts Make Up One-Third of U.S. Wages
Published: Tuesday, 8 Mar 2011 | 3:59 PM ET
By: John Melloy
Executive Producer, Fast Money
Government payouts, including Social Security, Medicare and
unemployment insuranceùmake up more than a third of total
wages and salaries of the U.S. population, a record figure
that will only increase if action isnÆt taken before the
majority of Baby Boomers enter retirement.
Even as the economy has recovered, social welfare benefits
make up 35 percent of wages and salaries this year, up from
21 percent in 2000 and 10 percent in 1960, according to
TrimTabs Investment Research using Bureau of Economic
Analysis data.
ôThe U.S. economy has become alarmingly dependent on
government stimulus,ö said Madeline Schnapp, director of
Macroeconomic Research at TrimTabs, in a note to clients.
ôConsumption supported by wages and salaries is a much
stronger foundation for economic growth than consumption
based on social welfare benefits.ö
The economist gives the country two stark choices. In order
to get welfare back to its pre-recession ratio of 26
percent of pay, ôeither wages and salaries would have to
increase $2.3 trillion, or 35 percent, to $8.8 trillion, or
social welfare benefits would have to decline $500 billion,
or 23 percent, to $1.7 trillion,ö she said.
Last month, the Republican-led House of Representatives
passed a $61 billion federal spending cut, but Senate
Democratic leaders and the White House made it clear that
had no chance of becoming law. Short-term resolutions
passed have averted a government shutdown that could have
occurred this month, as Vice President Biden leads
negotiations with Republican leaders on some sort of
long-term compromise.
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ôYouÆve got to cut back government spending and the
Republicans will run on this platform leading up to next
yearÆs election,ö said Joe Terranova, Chief Market
Strategist for Virtus Investment Partners and a ôFast
Moneyö trader.
Terranova noted some sort of opt out for social security or
even raising the retirement age.
But the country may not be ready for these tough choices,
even though economists like Schnapp say something will have
to be done to avoid a significant economic crisis.
A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released last week
showed that less than a quarter of Americans supported
making cuts to Social Security or Medicare in order to
reign in the mounting budget deficit.
Those poll numbers may be skewed by a demographic shift the
likes of which the nation has never seen. Only this year
has the first round of baby boomers begun collecting
Medicare benefitsùand here comes 78 million more.
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. Government spending normally takes on a larger part
of the spending pie during economic calamities but how can
the country change this make-up with the root of the crisis
(housing) still on shaky ground, benchmark interest rates
already cut to zero, and a demographic shift that calls for
an increase in subsidies?
At the very least, we can take solace in the fact that
weÆre not quite at the state welfare levels of Europe. In
the U.K., social welfare benefits make up 44 percent of
wages and salaries, according to TrimTabsÆ Schnapp.
ôNo matter how bad the situation is in the US, we stand far
better on these issues (debt, demographics,
entrepreneurship) than other countries,ö said Steve Cortes
of Veracruz Research. ôOn a relative basis, America remains
the world leader and, as such, will also remain the world's
reserve currency.ö
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... The problem is jobs... the solution is jobs...
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