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发帖数: 29846 | 1 By Phil Izzo
49.1%: Percent of the population that lives in a household where at least
one member received some type of government benefit in the first quarter of
2011.
Cutting government spending is no easy task, and it’s made more complicated
by recent Census Bureau data showing that nearly half of the people in the
U.S. live in a household that receives at least one government benefit, and
many likely received more than one.
The 49.1% of the population in a household that gets benefits is up from 30%
in the early 1980s and 44.4% as recently as the third quarter of 2008.
The increase in recent years is likely due in large part to the lingering
effects of the recession. As of early 2011, 15% of people lived in a
household that received food stamps, 26% had someone enrolled in Medicaid
and 2% had a member receiving unemployment benefits. Families doubling up to
save money or pool expenses also is likely leading to more
multigenerational households. But even without the effects of the recession,
there would be a larger reliance on government.
The Census data show that 16% of the population lives in a household where
at least one member receives Social Security and 15% receive or live with
someone who gets Medicare. There is likely a lot of overlap, since Social
Security and Medicare tend to go hand in hand, but those percentages also
are likely to increase as the Baby Boom generation ages.
With increased government spending comes the need to pay for it, and if
taxes aren’t going to increase that means deficits. Nearly three-quarters
of Americans blame the U.S. budget deficit on spending too much money on
federal programs, according to a Gallup poll last year, but when the
conversation turns to which programs to cut, the majorities are harder to
find. For example, 56% of respondents oppose making significant changes to
Social Security or Medicare.
The more people who receive benefits, the harder it’s going to be to make
cuts, and it’s never popular to raise taxes. In some respects that argues
for letting a combination of tax increases and spending cuts that is set to
automatically hit in 2013 take effect. There’s just one problem: the
Congressional Budget Office says it would sink the economy into recession.
Letting the 2013 provisions come into force would be like dealing with a
weight problem by cutting off your right arm. It may not be popular, but a
long-term, well-planned diet is the only solution. |
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