Two key charts tell a big part of the story. This chart shows spending as a % of GDP. There were modest increases in the Bush Administration after 9/11 for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the Medicare Drug benefit but spending was still less than 20% of GDP. Spending exploded with Obama-Pelosi-Reid.
The second chart shows a number I have written about previously. The shocking fact that 66% of all spending by the federal government is in the form of payments to individuals. This compares to only 28% in 1965. 2/3 of the total activity of the federal government today is to take money from one person and give it to someone else. This has become the principal role of the federal government.
Who is getting all this money? Here are the number of people receiving money and benefits in each of the major entitlement programs as detailed by The Wall Street Journal.
- 52 million on Social Security
- 50.5 million on Medicaid
- 46.5 million on Medicare
- 44.6 million on food stamps
- 24 million receive the earned income tax credit
- 7.5 million on unemployment benefits
- 5 million on Social Security Disability
By comparison, how many taxpayers pay federal income taxes that have incomes over $75,000? This was not in the Journal story but I looked it up. Compare the numbers of those receiving checks and those writing checks.
Only 29.5 million. This group of taxpayers is paying 83.4% of the total income taxes collected.
Over $50,000?
Only 47 million. 92.4% of all income taxes are paid by this group.
For more perspective read my previous post, "The Wagon Is Getting Heavy"
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