Last month, the Senate Budget Committee reports that in fiscal year 2012, between food stamps, housing support, child care, Medicaid and other benefits, the average U.S. Household below the poverty line received $168.00 a day in government support. What's the problem with that much support? Well, the median household income in America is just over $50,000,which averages out to $137.13 a day. To put it another way, being on welfare now pays the equivalent of $30.00 an hour for a 40-hour week, while the average job pays $20.00 an hour.
20 comments:
I'm fairly certain that "and other benefits" is code for "Social Security" here.
Anonymous said...
I'm fairly certain that "and other benefits" is code for "Social Security" here.
May 23, 2013 at 1:27 PM
Social security is NOT welfare, genius.
You're correct, I was wrong; SSI benefits were not included.
Apparently, "and otehr benefits" is code for CHIP, which is Medicaid for children. It's those disgusting poor kids who are bankrupting America!
Oh, and they included Pell Grants in the definition of "welfare" as well. Because of course poor kids shouldn't go to college either.
Plutocracy forever!
I'm disgusted with the worthless pieces of crap that are scamming the system. They get all this money than work for cash so they are scamming the system both ways.
Welfare is supposed to be a last resort safety net, not something people should aspire to be on.
You're right, 1:42. Social Security isn't welfare. It goes to anyone, regardless of income. It's worse than welfare. It's simply government taking tax money from young people and giving it to old people, regardless of whether those old people actually need it or not.
And spare me your comments that "we paid into it, so we deserve it." Guess what? If you've been on SS for a few years, you've gotten all the money you paid into the program plus some. It's not an insurance program -- it's a government redistribution program.
well done barack, well done you are successfully transforming America to a welfare state
So why work? Which means why try to learn and get skills in school? Counties spend millions trying to prepare kids to work in the future when the kids have no intention of working ever.
Add in all the government employees and you wonder how we will make it in the future!
We are not making it into the future, the house of cards will fall.
Did you expect anything different? Just wait until 2016!
Anonymous said...
You're right, 1:42. Social Security isn't welfare. It goes to anyone, regardless of income. It's worse than welfare. It's simply government taking tax money from young people and giving it to old people, regardless of whether those old people actually need it or not.
And spare me your comments that "we paid into it, so we deserve it." Guess what? If you've been on SS for a few years, you've gotten all the money you paid into the program plus some. It's not an insurance program -- it's a government redistribution program.
May 23, 2013 at 2:48 PM
Evidently, you are like most other people. You have no idea what Social Security is, how it is collected, how and to whom it is distributed, and probably anything else.
If you think people get back all, (or even close to), what they have paid into the system, then you are just ignorant of the facts. Any of them.
You and others like you should really educate yourself about this issue. All you are doing is spreading lies and misconceptions.
Seriously. I am not saying this to insult you or put you down, you are just completely wrong.
They only way, that I know of, that anyone can get SS benefits without paying into it is for them to be disabled. Or if their spouse dies and they collect their spouse' benefits.
Now, just put a small amount of effort into doing a web search or something similar and find out what really goes on with SS.
I am confident you will be surprised by what you learn and by just how much you don't know or understand.
And as an added bonus, you won't be spreading bs, you could educate others who mistakenly think as you and you won't sound as uneducated as you do at present.
It's a win/win for you.
Please, 7:13, don't lecture me about how Social Security works. And please actually do some fact-checking before you mount your high horse.
Current and past retirees are certainly getting more in Social Security benefits than they paid in. The total payroll taxes that current and past retirees paid is $71.3 trillion. Their benefits will be $93.4 trillion.
It's people like me -- a young person -- who won't get even close to what I paid into Social Security. My taxes are going to pay for your Social Security.
But I'm sure you think that the taxes you paid in Social Security were kept for you in some account and that now the check you're getting from the government is just "your money." You don't know that Social Security is a pay-as-you-go system, not a retirement system. Or maybe you do, and you just want to pretend that you're not on some form of welfare.
Be ignorant if you want, but don't lecture me on how the system works. Unlike you, I know the facts and figures.
I believe Jimmy Carter made it legal for illegal immigrants to collect SSI even though they may have NEVER paid into it. And if your kid can't sit down in class and tries to beat up the other kids who are trying to learn, his single mother can get him/her classified as "disabled" and can start yanking down $600-700 a MONTH until he's eighteen. SSI would be fine except for all the people getting checks who were never intended to be beneficiaries of SSI. Politicians. Again.
Current and past retirees are certainly getting more in Social Security benefits than they paid in. The total payroll taxes that current and past retirees paid is $71.3 trillion. Their benefits will be $93.4 trillion.
That has to do with inflation.
It's people like me -- a young person -- who won't get even close to what I paid into Social Security. My taxes are going to pay for your Social Security.
Yes, that is how the system is set up. Simple economics.
But I'm sure you think that the taxes you paid in Social Security were kept for you in some account and that now the check you're getting from the government is just "your money." You don't know that Social Security is a pay-as-you-go system, not a retirement system. Or maybe you do, and you just want to pretend that you're not on some form of welfare.
Yes, everyone's money is kept in their own account, on paper. And yes again, it is my money. The dollar bills will change, but the money still belongs to me. If it wasn't a 'retirement system', why would there be 'retirement ages' people have to meet before they can collect? Everybody who has a legal job pays into the system, along with matching funds from their employer.
Again, social security is NOT welfare. One could argue it is welfare for the government when they take money out of social security to pay their bills but that's as far as it would go.
The way you could not collect what you have paid in is if there are not enough employees to pay into the system to maintain funding at current levels. And/or more dipping into the fund by politicians and agencies that are unwilling or unable to pay back.
You stated you were young so that may have something to do with your display of ignorance. You probably believe all the hype that the government hands down concerning this. They have their own agenda and being honest does not play a role in it.
Hopefully, as you age, you will come to understand more of this process than you currently do.
I suppose it may not even be your fault. You believe what you are told, whether factual or not.
But if you don't want your money back, you don't have to take it. Don't file when you get that age. They will be more than glad to keep it.
Keep thinking it is welfare if that is what makes you happy. Some of us know better.
SSI would be fine except for all the people getting checks who were never intended to be beneficiaries of SSI. Politicians. Again.
May 23, 2013 at 9:19 PM
Thanks for citing this example. Maybe this is what that kid is referring to as SS being welfare.
I wasn't thinking along those lines but now I can understand where he is coming from.
I was going on the premise that people would pay into the system and then collect of what they had paid into it.
I still stand by what I said being I was referring to the honest and legal ways of collecting.
But I did not take into account the other side of the coin where people could collect without paying into it and thereby collecting more than they had contributed, since they contributed nothing.
Silly me. I forget about the dregs and criminals of society that would do that. I keep forgetting not everyone is as honest as I am.
In any case, I appear to have some egg on my face. And if I owe the young man an apology, consider it offered.
On that note, I will cut my losses and take my tired old self to bed and recharge the batteries.
Goodnight and thanks for the debates.
I'm stunned Maryland isn't on there in yellow.
To 11:30, I am overwhelmed by the evidence and proof you have offered to show me the error of my ways.
Oh, wait, you haven't done either. You seem like you may be a conservative, like myself. That's why its dismaying to find you defending the Social Security program. The fact is that SS is a Ponzi scheme, and has been from Day 1. It takes taxes from young workers and gives that money to older workers. It's redistribution, no matter what they try to tell you on the little forms the SSA sends you.
You tell me not to believe the hype government hands down. I think that advice applies much more to you. After all, you somehow think that "everyone's money is kept in their own account." Sounds like you've believed their propaganda. Please research how the SS system actually works.
While you're doing your research, you might also look into the phenomenon of "motivated reasoning." It will help explain why so many conservatives who are on Social Security decry government handouts and yet are fierce defenders of the biggest welfare program the feds are running.
>>>People retiring today are part of the first generation of workers who have paid more in Social Security taxes during their careers than they will receive in benefits after they retire. It's a historic shift that will only get worse for future retirees, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.<<<
9:08 - You are mistaken about CURRENT retirees getting back more from SS than was confiscated.
"Current and past retirees are certainly getting more in Social Security benefits than they paid in."
When I get a print out of what I have paid into SS it shows my income and taxes withheld from MY ACCOUNT. That is what I meant about money kept in individual accounts.
As far as I know, they is no 'one payment fits all'. Each person receives benefits according to what he or she has paid in.
I have paid in much more than the 1,200 a month I may get if ever approved. I don't even think that would bring me up to the poverty line. It's no big amount of money. It would just help to exist.
Maybe others know how to game the system and treat SS like an atm machine. I am forced to get a lawyer to get MY MONEY back. I have no control over what they do with my money once they take it. I just know they took money from me and my employers for the same reasons I am trying to get it back.
You say I offer no proof or evidence, I offer my own experience. Where are the facts and figures that people get more than they paid in?
I think maybe it is you that is believing the hype. BS they put out to cover for their mismanagement of funds and outright stealing, they call borrowing.
If you know of a magic process that would get me ANY money, much less more than I paid in, please share. Obviously I am doing something wrong.
Both Democrats and Republicans Say "We're broke" and can't help our own;
Seniors,
Veterans,
Orphans,
Homeless,
But, over the last several years THEY have provided direct cash aid to....
Hamas - $351 M,
Libya $1.45 B,
Egypt - $397 M,
Mexico - $622 M,
Russia - $380 M,
Haiti - $1.4 B,
Jordan - $463 M,
Kenya - $816 M,
Sudan - $870 M,
Nigeria - $456 M,
Uganda - $451 M,
Congo - $359 M,
Ethiopia - $981 M,
Pakistan - $2 B,
South Africa - $566 M,
Senegal - $698 M,
Mozambique - $404 M,
Zambia - $331 M,
Kazakhstan - $304 M,
Iraq - $1.08 B,
Tanzania - $554 M,
...with literally Billions of Dollars and they still hate us!!!!
But on the other hand, Our retired seniors and many of the poor receive NO aid! Nor do they get any breaks, while our government And religious organizations will pour Hundreds of Billions Of $'s and Tons of Food to Foreign Countries!
Someone needs to explain to them that Charity begins AT HOME!!!
And another atrocity....
We have Hundreds of adoptable American Children who are shoved aside to make room for the adoption of foreign orphans.
AMERICA: A country where we have countless homeless without shelter,
children going to bed hungry, the elderly going without needed medication
and the mentally ill without treatment -- etc.
YET..........
They will have a 'Benefit' Show For the people of Haiti, on 12 TVStations;
Ships and planes lining up with food, water, tents clothes, bedding, doctors and medical supplies.
Now Just Imagine if Our own "GOVERNMENT" gave 'US' the same support they give to foreign countries.
Sad, isn't it?
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