Quote of the day—Michael Snyder

Did you know that the number of Americans getting benefits from the federal government each month exceeds the number of full-time workers in the private sector by more than 60 million?  In other words, the number of people that are taking money out of the system is far greater than the number of people that are putting money into the system.  And did you know that nearly 70 percent of all of the money that the federal government spends goes toward entitlement and welfare programs?  When it comes to the transfer of wealth, nobody does it on a grander scale than the U.S. government.  Most of what the government does involves taking money from some people and giving it to other people.  In fact, at this point that is the primary function of the federal government.

Michael Snyder
April 17, 2014
18 Stats That Prove That Government Dependence Has Reached Epidemic Levels
[That’s an almost unbelievable number. But after paying my taxes last week it certainly seems plausible because they sure took a lot of money from me this year.

I can’t help but think the end is near.—Joe]

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12 thoughts on “Quote of the day—Michael Snyder

  1. Another data point that doesn’t get much press: the Federal Register publishes about 250 pages per day, every day.
    “Ignorance of the law is no excuse”. Sure. But at 250 pages per day of new law, NO ONE in the country knows the law. No one. No lawyer, no judge, no normal human.

    “It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is today, can guess what it will be tomorrow. Law is defined to be a rule of action; but how can that be a rule, which is little known, and less fixed?”
    — James Madison (in Federalist #62)

    • I want to have an initiative started in California that every county law library have a large sign in its main room, visible from over half the room displaying those words.

      Instead of the people mentioned in the appendix to “1984” working out which words to eliminate, there should be a committee sending every law up for renewal or abolition.

  2. All of my family’s hard work from last year got confiscated by the tax man. What is the incentive to be a top performer? My taxes increased by close to 10 percent. For what? I did not agree. What is the benefit to my family. …

    • You’re thinking about it all wrong. It was never meant to benefit you. It was meant to crush you.

      Don’t ever tell me Progressivism doesn’t work. It works wonderfully– It’s almost brought the United States to its knees, and it shows no signs of slowing down.

  3. Social security is not an entitlement or a welfare program. When someone gets that much of their numbers wrong, you have to wonder how much of whatever else they wrote is wrong too.

    • Perhaps your definition of “entitlement program” is different from other people. Here is the one I use:

      government program guaranteeing certain benefits to a segment of the population; the right to benefits offered by a government, esp. as compensation

      And by that definition SS is an entitlement program. And furthermore it is underfunded and not sustainable.

      • SS was supposed to be “retirement savings.”
        The crooks spent the money as it came in, never saving or investing it to grow for the future.
        It’s always been a Ponzi scheme.
        However, I want my damned money. I earned it. It’s mine. They owe it to me. Had I had control of it, ranger than the crooks, I’m certain I could have invested it well and had a nice nest egg. They spent it on welfare rats, in exchange for votes to keep themselves in power. So now I’ll get a measly amount per month until the system goes under, then nothing. That’s fraud and theft on a massive scale.
        Welfare “entitlements” are a different story. Those are giveaways, funded by stealing from producers to give to mooches. Fuck them. Let the lazy bastards starve or die for being too lazy to work to feed themselves or provide for their own medical care.
        I’ve reached the point where I couldn’t care less about what happens to them. I simply don’t care and don’t want to pay for them, their bad choices, and their illegitimate kids any more.

        • IIRC, the .gov wasn’t allowed to consider it an investment for retirement benefits. FDR was told by the Supreme Court that it wasn’t Constitutional. FDR responded that it was just a tax. The Court then responded that that would be legal.

          It is the first legal federal level Ponzi Scheme, per the USSC.

          Oh, and FDR knew at that time that it would bankrupt the US at some point in the 21st century. He was an Uber-Progressive, and that was his intention.

    • Sort of. Social Security doesn’t actually guarantee anything. It’s an income transfer scheme (a.k.a., a Ponzi scheme) where current taxpayers have their money taken by the government, and some of that is then given to other people.
      This is justified by the story that, by paying this tax, you become “entitled” (hence the term) to get money later on, paid by the then-current taxpayers. But that is only a story. Whether you end up getting anything, or if so how much, is entirely at the whim of the government in power at that time.
      So in that sense, Ubu is right that it isn’t an entitlement. (“welfare plan” comes closer.) Come to think of it, there aren’t any actual entitlements; while there may be some things labeled that way, none of them actually come with a promise to pay.
      If you want promises, get an annuity. Those have better ROI anyway.

    • Ubu, a large number of social security “benefits” payees receive benefits in excess of their contribution’s value.

  4. I’m pretty sure that website is counting military retirements and things like that as “entitlements and welfare” too.

    • Yes. I’m pretty sure all pensions are included. And the point is?

      My point is that the number of workers is far fewer than the number of people that depend on those workers. And it is going to get worse as the Baby Boomers retire. The end is near.

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