165 Million Americans Are Dependents of the State: Is Tyranny Next?

By Bill Wilson

Bill Wilson is the President of Americans for Limited Government.

As originally published at Forbes.com.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2012/08/15/165-million-americans-are-dependents-of-the-state-is-tyranny-next/

Is America descending into a dependency state, where the majority uses its voting power to demand government services from taxpayers?

New research from Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee Jeff Sessions (R-AL) reveals that this reality may already be here, with more than 107 million Americans on some form of means-tested government welfare.

Add to that 46 million seniors collecting Medicare (subtracting out about 10 million on Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, and other senior-eligible programs already included in Sessions' means-tested chart) and 22 million government employees at the federal, state, and local level — and suddenly, over 165 million people, a clear majority of the 308 million Americans counted by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2010, are at least partially dependents of the state.

Since President Obama took office in 2009, eligibility for Medicaid, food stamps, the earned income tax credit, the making work pay tax credit, and unemployment benefits has increased by roughly 10 million. To add insult to injury, Obama then unilaterally dismantled the work requirements that were the heart of the 1990's welfare reform via an arbitrary executive order.

But it's even worse than that. In fact, most voting-age Americans do not pay income taxes — approximately 50.6 percent.

That includes 53.91 million Americans who pay nothing in income taxes, and another 64.7 million who get refunds in excess of what was owed. That's 118.61 million out of 234.6 million Americans 18 years and older, based on data compiled by the Joint Committee on Taxation and the U.S. Census Bureau.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2012/08/15/165-million-americans-are-dependents-of-the-state-is-tyranny-next/

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