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The American Dream ... living on the dole?
One News Now ^ | 2/10/2012 | Chris Woodward
Posted on February 12, 2012 8:37:16 AM EST by IbJensen
A new study finds more Americans than ever before are dependent on the federal government for financial assistance.
The Heritage Foundation's "Index of Dependence on Government" also finds that the average American relying on federal government assistance receives $300 more in benefits ($32,748) annually than the average American's disposable personal income ($32,446).
William Beach of The Heritage Foundation's Center for Data Analysis puts that in context.
"... We now have [about] 67 million Americans who are getting significant aid from the government for their housing or their food or their income support or their healthcare or their education -- or all five put together," he explains. "When you think of 67 million, that's big enough; but imagine, that's one out of every five Americans."
Beach also points out that while the number of Americans receiving federal aid rises, the number of federal taxpayers continues to drop, with nearly half of Americans (49.5 percent) not paying any federal income taxes.
Unless significant steps are taken to cut debt, reduce spending, and restore prosperity, Beach warns this unsustainable fiscal model will collapse.
"We're about to get the largest generation in U.S. history to retire ... the Baby Boom generation," he points out.
"They're not all going to retire on January 1, but over the next ten years, we're going to see millions of those people retire. Many of those people, unfortunately, won't have saved enough. They'll be living totally on Social Security and getting all of their healthcare through the Medicare Part A program."
Heritage offers more details on its findings, as well as proposed solutions, at SavingTheDream.org.
(Excerpt) Read more at onenewsnow.com ...
