Here’s some stats that will blow your mind. It should answer the question to whether the ‘war on poverty’ is lost. Or, raise the question whether it was ever intended to be ‘won’ in the first place.
According to the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee, welfare spending per day per household in poverty is $168, which is higher than the $137 median income per day. When broken down per hour, welfare spending per hour per household in poverty is $30.60, which is higher than the $25.03 median income per hour.
The universe of means-tested welfare spending refers to programs that provide low-income assistance in the form of direct or indirect financial support—such as food stamps, free housing, child care, etc.—and which the recipient does not pay into (in contrast to Medicare or Social Security). For fiscal year 2011, CRS identified roughly 80 overlapping federal means-tested welfare programs that together represented the single largest budget item in 2011—more than the nation spends on Social Security, Medicare, or national defense. The total amount spent on these federal programs, when taken together with approximately $280 billion in state contributions, amounted to roughly $1 trillion. Nearly 95 percent of these costs come from four categories of spending: medical assistance, cash assistance, food assistance, and social / housing assistance. Under the President’s FY13 budget proposal, means-tested spending would increase an additional 30 percent over the next four years.
This so-called war is never-ending, with the purpose of creating as many voters dependent on government as possible. And look how successful it has become under the current Commander-in-Chief. Will Americans vote themselves a decrease in benefits after they’ve already voted for keeping them, and soaking the rich to ostensibly sustain them?
Link:‘Welfare Spending Equates to $168 Per Day for Every Household in Poverty’
