Hey, you there. The one who said that about 47% of the country, “are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them.” I’m talking to you and others like you who look down your noses at poor people thinking that they they are just lazy moochers sucking at the government teat like a new born baby.
I’m the first to point anyone who is ready to defraud America’s social welfare systems when they should not be on a particular program. And I’ve put my money where my mouth is, turning away potential renters who were defrauding the system into having their rent paid. But I’ve seen people literally resort to stealing food because they were hungry and did not qualify for the safety nets that exist for some. For everyone who has ever irresponsibly had children knowing that they couldn’t afford them, I’ve also seen people who never thought that they would need governmental assistance have to depend on those programs because they have lost their jobs. I know poverty very well, because I’ve lived it and I never, ever expected the government to support me. In fact, I pay a higher tax rate than you do.
While you’re busy looking down on the poor, have you realized that you might be benefiting from government subsidies and not even know it? Yes, you too with the golden spoon, you’ve been on the government dole. Don’t think so? Well let me help you by listing some things that the government has subsidized that you too benefit from, even if you’ve never gotten a check from the government. I’ll start with the most obvious ones first and get down to things that you probably have never thought of.
- You’ve received food stamps, WIC, welfare, Section-8
These are the most obvious and the lowest hanging fruit. The government either wrote you or someone else a check on your behalf to pay for critical items of daily living. - You benefit from Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security Disability or Social Security
You already knew this one, right? You’re thinking that you’ve paid into this, so you earned it. Well, you did! But the odds are that you will collect far more than you have ever paid into the system. So yep, grandma is rolling in her government entitlements. - You take any deductions on your taxes
Everything from the mortgage tax deduction to the deduction for your student loan interest payments to being able to deduct the money that you’ve put away for retirement from your earned income didn’t just magically pop out of thin air. Those costs are deducted from your taxes not for goodwill but because you are able to take advantage of loopholes that exist to lower your taxes which are all subsidized by the government. The more you make and the savvier your accountant is, the greater the chance of increasing your deductions to lower your tax liability to say, 14%? Extra points for you if you get that reference. - You’ve ever gotten a student loan
Unless your student loans were all private loans, guess what? You’ve been subsidized as well. In fact the loans are called the Federal Subsidized Stafford Loan. The government waived the interest on your loans while you attended school and for six months from the date that you either left school or stopped attending school full-time. - Your kids attend or have attended public school
Do you know why private school is so expensive? Because you’re paying for everything that your kid benefits from plus helping the school hopefully turn a profit. Do you know why public school is generally almost free? Because the government is paying those costs for you, and your property tax doesn’t cover the entire cost of your child attending school for the entire year. - You’ve used gasoline, natural gas or oil
If you’ve used any of these types of fuels you’ve benefited from government subsidies. No, the government didn’t give this money to you directly, but they give massive subsidies to the companies that drill and excavate these fuels. These companies make billions of dollars in profits and many pay almost no taxes due to these subsidies. If you have ever traveled outside of the United States and been shocked by the price of fuel, this is what makes our fuel so affordable. - You’ve driven across a bridge between states
You’re going to think, but I paid a toll and the states get taxes to pay for those bridges. Yes, they do! But they also get these things called Federal grants, especially since so many states are broke and so many bridges are pretty old. We wouldn’t want one of those things collapsing on you, now would we? - If you’ve ever eaten
If you’ve ever eaten anything having to do with corn, wheat or soy or if you’ve even eaten a meat product, you’ve been the beneficiary of a government subsidy. The numerous variations of different farm bills have provided all sorts of aids insurance and government backed loans to not just small farmers, but to huge farming conglomerates growing and harvesting the building blocks of the products that you consume every single day. Food is relatively cheap in the United States compared to food prices elsewhere. How else can a package of ramen noodles cost only $0.30?
Listen, Mr. High Horse, no one wants to see anyone taking advantage of the government. When they do, they are stealing from every single one of us who have ever worked, paid taxes and contributed to society in ways that amount to more than our paychecks. What I’m unwilling to ever do, is assume that anyone who has ever received any sort of aid did not deserve it, or that everyone who needs assistance at some point in their lives believe that they are victims.
This blog isn’t about politics, it’s about money. But if you want to be the leader of my country, statements like, “And so my job is not to worry about those people—I’ll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives,” just doesn’t sit well with me. This blog, and others like it are here to help people who find themselves in just this circumstance so that they can improve their lives.
Don’t tell me that you’ve given up hope on 47% of the country before you’ve even spent one night in a house that will be paid for by the people that you don’t care about.