I will protect your pensions. Nothing about your pension is going to change when I am governor. - Chris Christie, "An Open Letter to the Teachers of NJ" October, 2009

Friday, February 11, 2011

We're Doomed

Paul Krugman makes the case:
Percentage of Program Beneficiaries Who Report They “Have Not Used a Government Social Program”
Program“No, Have Not Used a
Government Social Program”
529 or Coverdell64.3
Home Mortgage Interest Deduction60.0
Hope or Lifetime Learning Tax Credit59.6
Student Loans53.3
Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit51.7
Earned Income Tax Credit47.1
Social Security—Retirement & Survivors44.1
Pell Grants43.1
Unemployment Insurance43.0
Veterans Benefits (other than G.I. Bill)41.7
G.I. Bill40.3
Medicare39.8
Head Start37.2
Social Security Disability28.7
Supplemental Security Income28.2
Medicaid27.8
Welfare/Public Assistance27.4
Government Subsidized Housing27.4
Food Stamps25.4
Source: Suzanne Mettler, “Reconstituting the Submerged State: The Challenge of Social Policy Reform in the Obama Era,” Perspectives on Politics (September 2010): 809.
We live in a country where over 4 out of 10 people who receive Social Security don't think they have used a government social program.

Think about that.

1 comment:

thinker said...

Sadly, it is these same people...social security recipients present and future...who are screaming the loudest for cuts to public worker pensions in NJ. How do you think they would react if the government stopped funding social security for 5 years or so and then said "sorry, need to cut benefits because the country is broke and just can't afford to pay you". Think they would all say "ok, we understand?". Unreal.