Nothing speaks to class discrimination like the government using your tax dollars for the benefit of the underprivileged, then penalizing you with taxes and penalties when you suddenly become a member of America’s underclass. Anyone who has lost a job or suffered a reversal of fortune with nothing to fall back on knows how quickly you can go from middle class to destitute. They also know that without a history of being poor those government handouts are going to be far out of reach.
What happens when formerly well-off Americans are faced with a financial crisis and need to tap into their retirement savings to keep from being thrown out in the street? Our government robs them. Cash in your 401(k) and you get whacked with an extra penalty in addition to taxes that help fund government handouts and giveaways for others. If you are underprivileged you can send your kids to school for free even if you don’t pay taxes, get your medical care for free, receive your living expenses from the government, and not have to pay any of it back. That’s class discrimination, folks, but not the kind we usually hear about.
So many government handouts, so little money.
Is it also class discrimination for the government to dole out benefits indiscriminately and require that Americans fund those handouts even though they could never qualify?
We spend staggering amounts on Medicaid. Thanks to the president’s public option that wasn’t, our national Medicaid bill is about to explode. At least in Canada everyone gets to partake in public health care. In America it is just another government handout for the underprivileged, many of them helped to stay that way by the same person that forced the health care bill on taxpayers (see: Will States Revolt Against the Obama Underclass?).
Food stamps, housing assistance, TANF, and the rest of the long, tired list of welfare and public assistance programs that cost taxpayers too much money were meant to provide temporary help through harsh times and setbacks. No one asks that handouts be paid back unless the recipients commit fraud, but those who used to have money are being punished for tapping their savings because Uncle Sam is unhappy that their retirement contributions were never taxed.
America is too broke to give welfare away.
Social Security and Medicare are killing us, but at least we are forced to contribute to these entitlements with payroll deductions, even if some of our money goes to slackers bilking Social Security for disability benefits. Medicaid is a different beast, as are all manner of government handouts meant to bridge the gap for the underclass as it claws its way up to the middle.
Being part of the middle class is supposed to be a goal for the underprivileged, but once that goal is reached everything that happened before is forgotten. What other social class gets assistance from the government that is forgiven as soon as things improve? Americans with huge tax bills are pursued until Uncle Sam gets his money regardless of their circumstances. If you are poor, class discrimination and federal paternalism ensure that nothing is your fault and our government stands ready to provide support funded on the backs of others. Considering that the middle and upper classes are fleeced for having to partake in their own version of welfare, cashed in 401(k)s, it seems fair that those they pay to support repay their government assistance.
How do we stop this mindless class discrimination and make the system fair for everyone? Fortunately, we already have a mechanism to recover the handouts.
Government handouts should be billed to federal accounts.
Why do we put taxpayers on the hook for funding government handouts that will never be paid back when small businesses, banks, auto companies, and every other individual and institution that gets government assistance has to return the money? Are we afraid of penalizing the underprivileged, even though we have no problem forcing their costs on those who may only be marginally better off but still make enough money to pay taxes?
All Americans have Social Security accounts even if they aren’t working, contributing, and paying out tax dollars. We need to reinvent Social Security and use the system to keep track of welfare and other assistance so it can be either debited from the account if contributions have been made or paid back as a loan when things get better. Even unemployment insurance can be turned into a short-term loan. Taxpayers will get their money back and we can charge a little interest on the side.
What happens to those who are never able to repay the giveaways?
The first objections to this repayment plan will be that needy Americans will have nothing to retire on if they lose their Social Security contributions to public assistance, or that they will never be able to pay the money back if their circumstances do not improve. If members of America’s underclass stay where they are for the rest of their lives, then their government benefits are really a guaranteed income and the whole welfare system is a lie. But we already knew that, didn’t we?
@Todd- You’re right. Our country is going downhill. And, if we don’t stop government spending, it will bankrupt us. Government has taken on responsibilities that it never should have in the first place…Food assistance, health assistance…Baby mama drama and reproductive rights…When the constitution was drafted in the 1700’s, our founding fathers never intended for government to play a role in any of these situations. Government’s role was supposed to be minimal.
Yeah. I’m being cheated by this system, alright. As I get older, each day I feel like everything in this world is just meant to “take” from me. That’s why I don’t buy anything I don’t need and I don’t donate s*** to charity. If you don’t like government spending, stop supporting/donating to organizations that get most, if not all of their funding from the government. I’m talking about so called “noprofit” organizations that are bleeding our country dry. The few charities that I do donate to are like Tutor for Good, because they don’t take any government funds. They’re privately funded.
With age comes wisdom and conservatism? Take heart, Brittany. At least we have the IRS to protect us from conservative nonprofits spending our money.
Obama and his Democratic cohorts are hell bent on turning this country into a welfare nation. The more people Obama etc. can give government handouts to the more likely they will vote Democratic. Many receiving these government handouts will lose the incentive to get a job or start up a business. The more you give to people the more they will expect to be given. What happens when those being taxed to death start declining and there are less funds to support these welfare programs? We could have riots, for the recipients don’t want to loose their source of support. Look at how the union workers respond when they don’t get the contracts they feel they deserve.This country is going down hill fast and I am sure it is not what the founding fathers had in mind. Obama and congress better tackle this out of control welfare problem before it is to late.