It has become all too easy today to receive government
assistance. Half of all babies born in the U.S. today receive
food assistance, and half of all children live in a home that
will use food assistance at some point during their childhood.
40 percent of the population in Washington, D.C. is on welfare.
Between 2000 and 2010 the number of Americans receiving food
assistance more than doubled, expanding to over 47 million,
which is more than one-seventh of the population. Forty years
ago, only 4.3 million Americans received food assistance.
According to a Heritage Foundation study, means-tested welfare
has grown faster than every other part of government during the
past two decades, including Social Security, Medicare, education
and defense. What is wrong with this picture? Half of everyone
in the U.S. is not “poor.” We are the wealthiest nation in the
world. Almost half of all households do not even pay any federal
income tax. The problem is that welfare is not just provided to
the handicapped and unemployed