Report: U.S. Continues to Grow More Dependent on Federal Government

HERITAGE.ORG ^ | JUNE 13, 2005 | Editors

[CHARLITE]

WASHINGTON, JUNE 13, 2005— Americans depend on the federal government more than ever for funding for their education, health care and housing, yet more Americans than ever pay nothing in federal income tax, according to a new study from The Heritage Foundation.

Federal spending has climbed 150 percent on higher education, 48 percent on health care and 27 percent on housing since 2000, the report says.

The Index of Dependency, which measures the increased dependence on government, increased by 1 percent in 2004, the smallest increase in four years. The Index jumped at least 5 percent in each of the previous three years, 27 percent since 2000 and 112 percent since 1980.

Meanwhile, The Tax Foundation reports that a record 42.5 million Americans paid no federal taxes after deductions and credits.

The Index measures the extent to which the federal government has “crowded out” not just state and local governments but churches, communities and families in delivering human services, says William Beach, director of Heritage’s Center for Data Analysis. The project grew out of concerns by leaders such as Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and others that society could reach a “tipping point” at which a majority, dependent on government services yet not charged for them, could press for a vast expansion of government that could not be sustained.

“Civil society already has yielded substantial ground to the federal public sector,” says Beach. “When do we reach what George Will called the triumph of the entitlement state, where the special interests band together to form a majority that votes its short-term desires at the expense of the long-term public good?”

[grundle]

I'm glad I voted Libertarian in the last few elections.

[Michael Goldsberry]

http://www.constitutionparty.com/

[Michael Goldsberry]

Idiot.

[RightWhale]

I'm glad I voted Libertarian in the last few elections.

Right. That did a lot of good.

[gorush]

This article contains all the evidence I need to back up my claim that strict-constructionism will NEVER be reinstated at the voting booth. One would have thought (230 years ago) that our Constitution would prevent creeping socialism through it's limitations on Federal power. Obviously not. A couple of centuries of liberals redefining words and look what we've become.

[Brilliant]

The states continue to degenerate because the federal government is taking an ever bigger piece of the pie, leaving them with the scraps.

[Haru Hara Haruko]

And voting Republican saved me, like, 0.54% in taxes?

Biiiiig whoop.

[RightWhale]

0.54%

0.54% or $0.54 depending on marginal tax rate.

[Haru Hara Haruko]

Scalia won't rock the New Deal boat, either.

Now we have Socialism run by "conservatives" with ZERO intent to change it.

Vote LP or CP. Time to teach the Republicans a lesson.

[Racehorse]

One would have thought (230 years ago) that our Constitution would prevent creeping socialism through it's limitations on Federal power. Obviously not. A couple of centuries of liberals redefining words and look what we've become.

Oh, I don't think liberals catch the blame for all of it.

The Civil War kinda scrambled the federalist landscape just a wee bit.  Don't believe the founders and framers foresaw the consequences of that little burp.

[gorush]

Sure they did...Madison held true to the document he authored during the war of 1812, Lincoln was way out of line. The Confederacy had it right and were beaten into submission...and don't give me the slavery arguement...slavery would have ended eventually due to it's immorality...it was primarily a state's rights battle.

[Principled]

bumptee boo

[Archon of the East]

Scalia won't rock the New Deal boat, either.

Like a dagger through the heart, I couldn't believe it.

[RightWhale]

Don't believe the founders and framers foresaw the consequences of that little burp.

Maybe, but they had a hugh amount of experience with setting up a constitutional republic by then and did very well, so well that nobody will ever do better. After all, they were trying to improve on the best government on earth of the time and the opportunity was unique on earth and still is.

[Archon of the East]

After all, they were trying to improve on the best government on earth of the time and the opportunity was unique on earth and still is.

What is the best way forward? I fear that if the peoples of the world continue to look to Government and continue to democratically elect tyranny we will soon reach a point of no return being sucked into a global leviathan. I would love to send the GOP a message but can we really afford to? Can we afford not to?

[RightWhale]

What is the best way forward?

Who knows? We have a lot more experience to draw upon now than they did in 1787, and a lot of it is hard knocks. Lofty ideals is one thing, but the Constitution seems to be designed for practical use. Can it be improved on? Maybe, but the EU shows it isn't a trivial exercise. We have two countries right now where we are trying to set up something along the lines of our own gov't, but local law has to be respected since it won't go away. So, these new gov'ts won't be like ours in every detail. If the locals want to do it, it can happen. If they aren't all that interested, the investment won't pay off as it could.

[ancient_geezer]

The Index of Dependency, which measures the increased dependence on government, increased by 1 percent in 2004, the smallest increase in four years. The Index jumped at least 5 percent in each of the previous three years, 27 percent since 2000 and 112 percent since 1980.

a free people that pays slave taxes to its government is willingly training itself for bondage.
---Alan Keyes 199

 

Meanwhile, The Tax Foundation reports that a record 42.5 million Americans paid no federal taxes after deductions and credits.

 

Bush touts relief as tax day looms

Another 3.9 million Americans will have their income tax liability completely eliminated, officials said.

That's 3.9 million Americans more added to the spending constituency of 70% of the public clamoring for more from government, figuring someone else foots the bill.

 

Problem is these folks still pay the taxes they are just snookered in to believing otherwise, its time to give the nation's voters visibility of their tax burdens not hide them even more.

Wonder where they hid the pea, in the perpetual political shell game hide the tax?

CBO Monthly Budget Review

RECEIPTS THROUGH FEBRUARY (In billions of dollars)
		October-February				Percentage Change
Major Source		FY2001		FY2002
Individual Income		404		373		-7.6
Corporate Income		59		63		6.2
Social Insurance		270		273		1.4
Other		59		57		-3.1
	Total	792		766		-3.2
SOURCES: Department of the Treasury; CBO.

[ancient_geezer]

A Taxreform bump for you all.

If you would like to be added to this ping list let me know.

John Linder in the House(HR25) & Saxby Chambliss Senate(S25), offer a comprehensive bill to kill all income and SS/Medicare payroll taxes outright, and provide a IRS free replacement in the form of a retail sales tax that all participate in:

H.R.25,S.25
A bill to promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, and enacting a national retail sales tax to be administered primarily by the States.

Refer for additional information:

• http://www.fairtax.org,
• http://www.myfairtax.org/,
• http://www.salestax.org,
• http://www.geocities.com/cmcofer/ftax.html

[Racehorse]

The Confederacy had it right and were beaten into submission....

That is pretty much the point.  Long before secession and civil war, New England states threatened to withdraw from the union . . . twice.  They might have gotten away with it.

The war settled the matter . . . decisively.  And then, along came the Supreme Court to hammer the language of supremacy into place with Texas v. White.

None of which Madison and the boys could have foreseen.