The American govt. is not responsible for the care and feeding of all its citizens. The family is the group that is most directly responsible. That being said, there are some folks who truly need assistance. They can get basic assistance from many different agencies in this govt. Others are just welching off the system, and need to be set straight.
The President has been pushing his Faith Based initiatives because he's seen the evidence that these groups have the most success in not only taking care of people, but in moving them out of poverty. Welfare programs are not meant to sustain generation after generation of families, but that's what is expected by some nowadays.
This country is very diverse in that there are some people with LOTS of ambition, some with none, and most in the great middle. Everyone has access to an education; some better than others, but the basics are there. It's what people do with the opportunities they are given that shows their measure.
You can tax the rich until the Day of Judgement, but that won't help one single family rise out of poverty if they don't want to take the time or trouble to do so.
As for Senior citizens, the individuals that largely make up that group right now have a larger disposable income than ever before. Many could buy their own prescription drugs, but don't want to spend the money on that particular purchase. For those who truly cannot afford meds, I'm happy that some of my tax money will be helping them, but there is absolutely no need for my taxes to subsidize the prescriptions of some rich elderly geezer and his wife simply because they happen to have survived past the age of 65.
I agree with much of what you say but the answer is not to continue to give tax cuts to people earning over a million dollars a year while we're at war. It's the middle class that is going to pay for this war and the rich, who have had incredible opportunity in this great country, should be willing to do their share. They are not patriots.
Simple solutions like raising the income cap for social security would fix the problem. After what happened with Worldcom and Enron, etc. it distrubs me that Wall Street is literally salivating to get their hands on that money. I don't think that there are safequards in place to protect those dollars.
Worse yet, what about the debt? Why is everyone ignoring the national debt? Who do you think is going to pay for it? With the current tax evasion laws in place and corporations moving off-shore in order to avoid paying any taxes, it's the middle class that will pay. The President's proposal adds 2 TRILLION dollars to that debt.
I am not opposed to tax cuts for the middle class or for small businesses, I am opposed to corporate welfare for giant coporations who have all of the opportunities afforded by this country, but don't want to pay their share.
The oil companies have all reported record profits!! Guess who paid for that? When are we going to wake up and figure out that the middle class is being slimed!
When are we going to admit that millioniares are still going to Washington with their hands out while our troops go without proper armour?