In President Obama’s second inaugural address, he insisted that our growing social-
welfare state does not make us “a nation of takers.” But, in many ways, it does.
Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute wrote a book by that name
and concludes that the precipitous increase in social-welfare spending poses, not
only fiscal hazards, but moral ones as well.
In a recent Wall Street Journal column, Dr. Eberstadt cites evidence of what he calls
“increasing dependency on state largesse.” According to the Bureau of Economic
Analysis, since 1960, government payments to citizens of cash, goods and services
have been growing twice as fast as overall personal income. Dr. Eberstdt writes that:
“the federal government has become an entitlement machine.” He backs that up with
findings from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget showing that social welfare
programs have grown from less than a third of all federal spending in 1960 to nearly
two thirds today.
And, the latest shock from the U.S. Census Bureau is that 49% —nearly half — of
Americans live in homes receiving one or more government transfer benefits. Dr.
Eberstadt cautions readers not to assume that this is, primarily old-age pensions
and health care for seniors. Thirty-five percent of Americans receive money from
programs meant for the poor, like Medicaid and food stamps.
The increase in people collecting Social Security disability is staggering. In 1960,
barely three million Americans received work-related disability checks from Social
Security. By 2005, the number was 6.5 million. And it was 8.8 million as of
December 2012. When you add in all the other government disability programs, HHS
data shows well over 12 million working age Americans receiving benefits.
Another scholar at American Enterprise Institute, Richard Vedder, also had a recent
piece in the Wall Street Journal, entitled “The Wages of Unemployment.” In it he
points out that the huge increase in Americans receiving Social Security disability
has occurred despite the fact that the health of Americans has improved, and
dangerous industrial production and mining jobs are much less prevalent today.
Of course, the persistent rough economy must be acknowledged. But one wonders,
is government largesse slowing the recovery especially in employment. The
traditional 26-week benefit has been extended again and again over the past four
years, with some people out of work a year or more still receiving benefits. Dr.
Vedder writes that “if you pay people to stay at home, many will do so rather than
seek employment or accept jobs where the pay doesn’t meet their expectations.”
Dr. Eberstat writes that, even before the current recession, “more than 7 percent of
males in their late 30’s (the prime working age-group) had totally checked out of the
work force.” He fears we’re fostering a “pernicious ‘something for nothing’ mentality.”
He writes: “This taker mentality can only weaken civil society — even as it places
even-heavier burdens on taxpayers.”
Good government does not discourage work.