To illustrate the extent of America’s growing dependency on Washington’s taxpayer-supported largesse, Jeffrey noted that the 150 million Americans receiving some form of federal assistance, not counting veterans benefits, outnumbered the entire population of Russia (142.5 million). The combined population of the United Kingdom (63. 7 million) and the Ukraine (44.3 million) is less than the 109.6 million Americans benefiting from means-tested federal welfare programs at the end of 2012. That 35.4 percent of the U.S. population also outnumbers the 103 million full-time year-round workers in the United States. There is some overlap, however, as some full-time workers at low-paying jobs are also eligible for food stamps, Medicaid, etc. But that raises the question of why we have so many underemployed and working poor in America.
Politicians on the Left and Right lament the growth of a permanent underclass and the decades-long decline in real wages, adjusted to reflect inflation, for middle class Americans. Yet government policies have for decades been driving away the jobs that once fueled the mighty engines of the U.S. economy and enabled working Americans to more than adequately support themselves and their families. The federal corporate tax rate is the world’s highest at 35 percent, with states adding levies up to 12 percent. That provides an obvious incentive for companies to move jobs and production to nations with lower corporate tax rates, including Third World countries that offer cheap labor as well. “Free trade” agreements make it easier for multinational corporations to produce goods in countries where the cost of labor is low and sell them in the United States where demand and purchasing power is high.
FK – A nation of parasites will soon suck itself dry…