The Race To The Bottom: Half Of US Social Program Recipients Believe They "Have Not Used A Government Social Program"
CrooksandLiars
It's really hard not to get discouraged when you realize that all the anti-intellectual elitist talk has led us to this exact circumstance:
"Reconstituting the Submerged State: The Challenges of Social Policy Reform in the Obama Era," a paper by Cornell's Clinton Rossiter Professor of American Institutions Suzanne Mettler features this remarkable chart showing that about half of American social program beneficiaries believe that they "have not used a government social program."That's right...all those bonehead tea baggers going to rallies with signs that say "Keep the guvmint out of my Medicare" really *are* actually that ignorant.
Powered by Blogger
2 Comments:
Shouldn't there be some distinction between programs that strictly provide a government funded service and those that allow different tax treatments ?
For example, unemployment insurance is a government funded program (albeit employer-funded through their Federal Unemployment Tax contribution) versus the home mortgage which is a tax treatment question ? For some, itemizing the home mortgage deduction is advantageous over the standard deduction while for some it is not.
Interestingly, if I am reading the listing correctly, since Food Stamps is listed as "25.4% Have NOT used the program" would mean that 74.6% have ... that would seem to indicate that is one program that we should make sure funding continues ... while the Home Mortgage Deduction should be targeted for phase-out.
BTW : Head Start is interesting ... Joe Klein reported that $7 billion is provided for Head Start impacting one million children ... and according to the Head Start Impact Study the positive effects of the program were minimal and vanished after the first grade.
I have used one on this list - the home mortgage interest deduction. And, if my wife approves, will not be participating in this perk on our 2011 tax return.
The less you depend on government, the better off you will be.
Post a Comment
<< Home