HERE is this week's comic, "After the Revolution."
I'm not one to publish essays explaining a comic strip, but I did want to point out a couple of the things that got me thinking about this one.
I was pointed to this study by Paul Krugman, and it's pretty remarkable.
| Percentage of Program Beneficiaries Who Report They “Have Not Used a Government Social Program” | |
|
Program |
“No, Have Not Used a Government Social Program” |
|
529 or Coverdell |
64.3 |
|
Home Mortgage Interest Deduction |
60.0 |
|
Hope or Lifetime Learning Tax Credit |
59.6 |
|
Student Loans |
53.3 |
|
Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit |
51.7 |
|
Earned Income Tax Credit |
47.1 |
|
Social Security—Retirement & Survivors |
44.1 |
|
Pell Grants |
43.1 |
|
Unemployment Insurance |
43.0 |
|
Veterans Benefits (other than G.I. Bill) |
41.7 |
|
G.I. Bill |
40.3 |
|
Medicare |
39.8 |
|
Head Start |
37.2 |
|
Social Security Disability |
28.7 |
|
Supplemental Security Income |
28.2 |
|
Medicaid |
27.8 |
|
Welfare/Public Assistance |
27.4 |
|
Government Subsidized Housing |
27.4 |
|
Food Stamps |
25.4 |
| Source: Suzanne Mettler, “Reconstituting the Submerged State: The Challenge of Social Policy Reform in the Obama Era,” Perspectives on Politics (September 2010): 809. | |
This doesn't say that 44% of Americans forget that Social Security is a social benefit program. It says that 44% of people who ACTUALLY RECEIVE Social Security were UNAWARE that they had received any social benefits from the government.
And I remembered this study that shows which states are net recipients of federal funds (receive more from the federal government than they pay in taxes), and which are net donors of federal funds (pay more in taxes than they receive). Notice anything about the political philosophy and attitude toward the federal government of the states that generally are net recipients?