Dependency and the ‘47 Percent’

Just four years ago, few could have imagined the explosion we’ve seen in the number of Americans who depend on the government. What if that constituency becomes politically self-sustaining, as it has in Greece? That would be ruinous. Conservatives must prove that they can enlarge the constituency for self-reliance — by dramatically increasing the number of people who benefit from a culture of family and hard work.

Over the past several years, two great American thinkers, former U.S. senator Phil Gramm (R., Texas) and American Enterprise Institute president Arthur Brooks, have published a brilliant series of opinion pieces in the Wall Street Journal on the theme of dependency and self-reliance. In the past two weeks, both have written pieces that show the dangerous extent to which government dependency has grown during the past four years.
In Thursday’s Wall Street Journal, Senator Gramm (joined by colleague Michael Solon) asks whether the dramatic increase in government benefits could eventually turn an election. He cites the following alarming statistics:
The Obama administration has aggressively increased the number of food-stamp recipients, hiking it by 18.5 million.
Unemployment insurance lasted no more than 55 weeks in 1980 and no more than 72 weeks in 1992. Now it can last 99 weeks.
The federal government’s 120 means-tested programs today provide $1 trillion in benefits.

Read more: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/331043/dependency-and-47-percent-mario-loyola