Sen. Richard Lugar glowingly remarks on the "remarkable shift" that's occurred with one in eight Americans receiving some form of welfare. While I admit the food stamp program is a bargain compared to others that are bureaucrat heavy, it's disconcerting that we're losing our ability to engage in the traditional American mores of rugged individualism.
I'm reminded that there are fewer "forgotten men" that William Graham Sumner talked about, and the title of Amity Shlaes's wonderful book.
Anyone ready for the entitlement tsunami looming ahead? It's by far our biggest problem.
I'm reminded that there are fewer "forgotten men" that William Graham Sumner talked about, and the title of Amity Shlaes's wonderful book.
Anyone ready for the entitlement tsunami looming ahead? It's by far our biggest problem.
Boston University Professor Laurence Kotlikoff, who pioneered the concept of generational accounting to project federal tax burdens, calculates that with no change in current law, a child born today would have to pay 84 percent of his or her lifetime income in taxes to finance an entitlement programs and other government spending.So what are our representatives on Capitol Hill doing about it? Why, proposing to expand entitlements, of course.
This statistic (84% of income spent on taxes) is at least as old as 1995 (my reference here) and that's even if you assume that Kotlikoff's generation accounting is not overblown. This is just another example of starving the beast and the games Republican leaders play with the people. Excellent article on starving the beast here. Cheers!
Paulina