Entitlements Are Crack Cocaine
I had previously written a post that compared how increasing the size of entitlements was comparable to a crack dealer keeping his junkies addicted to crack.
The point I was trying to make was that once people start getting a benefit from government, they never ever want to let go of it. They start taking it for granted and only want more and more of it. This is my biggest beef with most entitlement programs. People become dependent on them.
Instead of focusing on how many benefits the government can provide to people, our politicians should be focusing on how they can create an environment where our free market Capitalist society can provide every benefit that the citizens desire at the most affordable price possible.
Remember people, this is a capitalist country. That system was chosen for a purpose. It provides the average person with the greatest opportunity to pursue their own version of happiness.
Capitalism works well because the people spend and invest their capital in the most efficient manner they possibly can. Government is incapable of investing that capital anywhere nearly as efficiently as you and I can. That is why it is better if we spend our money rather than our government. We get a lot more for our money when we spend it rather than someone else. We shop for bargains. The government does not.
Anyway, I pulled down the post about entitlements being like crack cocaine and replaced it with this one. I felt that people might misinterpret my points with the previous post.
We must be very, very careful when issuing new government benefits to anyone. They are very hard to cut back on or remove in the future even if they have outlived their usefulness.
I totally agree! Let’s get everybody off crack! Let’s start with people that have served in the military. They did their jobs and we paid them, gave them free transportation to the places we wanted them to work, gave some free housing, clothing, food and health care. We do not owe them a pension; it’s a handout, crack if you will. Next … politicians; while in office, they also did some kind of a job for which they were paid. They are usually ‘well to do’ anyway, we don’t owe them anything after they leave office, especially ex-presidents. Look at both Bushes, Clinton and Carter standing there like little crack addicts waiting for their fix! Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, all crack for the masses! Let’s cut all of that out! For business, let’s get rid of all those entitlements also – investment tax credits, depreciation on business assets, economic redevelopment credits, etc. That’s nothing but crack! The new healthcare legislation – nothing but a huge crack pipe from which the masses will draw their fixes!
Errr, Excuse me, I have a question, though. IF we get rid of all of this “crack”, how would it make the United States better than say, Afghanistan, Haiti, Cuba or Iraq? What kind of country would we be? Would, say, the military from a foreign country come in and capture George W. Bush because they did not like the way he ran the government? Would they then offer him up to factions in the country that would eventually convict and execute him … because we don’t inspire uniform loyalty to an America that hands out crack to its ex-military personnel? Would we allow our elders who have so much to teach us about the right or wrong way things were done to perish earlier in life or refuse to serve in advisory roles because they are still busy trying to make a living? Would we decimate our population by refusing to offer medical care to the sick and have them eventually die off?
I say the things we would create by not offering the “crack” (as you put it) are worse than the so-called “crack”!
Hmmmm, If money to the former middle class for unemployment extensions (so we can survive until the jobs come back)is what you consider an entitlement then what do you call this?
CAPITALISM AT WORK or Corporate “entitlements” ?
I would love to see you report on that issue.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/04/16/news/companies/ge_7000_tax_returns/
Corporate tax is a discussion for another post. My general take is this – Taxing American corporations is counter productive. Those taxes get passed on to us in the form of higher prices. Plus those higher taxes give companies more incentive to move operations overseas. People have this misguided notion that companies pay taxes. They don’t. Ultimately, we pay. We pay more money for their products than we otherwise would because of corporate taxes. Corporate taxes are politicians’ way of taking more money from you and disguising it as though it is coming from some evil giant corporation. In the long run those costs are passed on to average Americans in the form of inflation and lost American jobs.
The solution is not to create more complex tax laws for corporations to find a loophole in. The solution is for the government to quit spending so much damn money that they need to constantly raise taxes for. Quit spending. Quit spending. Quit spending.
The funny thing about entitlements is that the ones who pay into the tax system do not get them, but the ones who do not pay do. It is rather sad that it works that way. But I do agree with you on the fact that most people start to expect them once they get start getting them.
DrBey makes a very good argument..so much so that the common sense republican does not offer a direct answer.
The common misconception about entitlements is that they are handouts to the lazy folks who do not want to get a job.
It is easy to rest on that assumption without digging deeper for the facts. Most receiving “entitlements” are those that have worked in some way. Retirees receiving Medicare and social security have worked a lifetime…most likely at dead end jobs making someone else rich. Military vets have put their lives on the line for the freedom of speech that the common sense republican enjoys, no matter how narrow minded. And the list goes on.
Many republicans including the writer of this blog argue from the faulty assumption that certain entitlements are not well deserved, and nothing can be farther from the truth. The face of the entitlement recipient is not of the poor lazy guy that refuses to work. It is of hard working Americans who are unemployed and have not received their due reward for a lifetime of service, only because some corporate big wig thought it more prudent and self beneficial to save on cost than to pay people what they are worth.
This is exactly why a two party system has run its course. The writer of this blog for example offers no real common sense solutions other than to propagate an age old conservative argument that that has no pragmatic value whatsoever. Instead of putting forth a point of view that all but insults people comparing them to crack addicts why not offer solutions that will benefit our society on a whole.
It is no wonder that you ideologues are seen as callous and out of touch.
Mel,
I suggest you ask the people who are already receiving those entitlements if they think they are getting enough. Then think about the comparison to crack cocaine again. The correlation will be painfully clear.
Go ahead and ask them. You will hear them complain time and time and time again that they are not getting enough. They want more. They want more. It is so unfair that they can’t have more. Then they vote for the pimp or dealer (politician) who says that they will give them more.
I know plenty of people in this situation who are on welfare for example. Every single one of them is totally dependant on the system to keep feeding them. They sit around and watch talks shows all day on television smoking cigarettes that even I cannot afford anymore and complain about how bad welfare pays. Meanwhile, working people like me are subsidizing their existance and writing out our monthly checks to our utility companies (they get free gas). We are paying our mortgages and trying to stash a few bucks away for a rainy day and for retirement. But, our ability to pay our bills and save for our future is inhibited because we have to finance the people who need their crack.
Every single one of those crack heads are Democrats. Just ask them. Every single one.
At these Democratic rallies they should be holding up signs that say “More crack please!”
While I have differing opinions on different kinds of entitlements, I can’t help but comment on the statements of welfare. I have watched several co-workers, even some friends, barely work and receive a massive amount of welfare, from food, heating, WIC, daycare, and the list goes on. They have no want for a better job or better education. They are happy pulling a few hours a day and then sitting on what they are receiving from the government, including taking their children to government paid daycare so they can sit at home without them. Their biggest worry in life is when their children become to old to receive certain benefits. It’s a sad situation to watch.
I just have to say again that this is such a WEAK argument that you are making. The generalizations are staggering. You believe that everyone that goes to a democratic rally are looking for handouts? Put any thought into this whatsoever?
Ouch. That one hit home, didn’t it Mel?
I believe that many people who belong to the Democrat party are looking for handouts. Yes. I truly do believe that.