Monday, November 26th, 2012
Stephan: I have had five Rightwing readers write me to tell me how the entitlements Democrats support are bankrupting the country. At one level I am fascinated by how it is possible to construct a worldview that is almost entirely fact free, and how incredibly effective the Rightwing media machine has been in brainwashing people. But at another level I'm just tired of the nonsense. I started to write a short essay about it, then ran across this when I was doing the research for today's edition. Here are some actual facts.
SOURCES: Bureau of Economic Analysis, National Income and Product Accounts, Table 3.1.Government Current Receipts and Expenditures (bea.gov); Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index-All Urban Consumers (Series ID: CUSR0000SA0) (bls.gov); Bureau of Economic Analysis, National Income and Product Accounts, Table 1.1.3. Real Gross Domestic Product, Quantity Indexes (bea.gov); U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (census.gov); Social Security Administration, Actuarial Publications, Administrative Expenditures (ssa.gov); OECD Tax Database, Table A. Total tax revenue as percentage of GDP (oecd.org/tax).
In 1960, government transfers to individuals totaled $24 billion. By 2010, that total was 100 times as large. Even after adjusting for inflation, entitlement transfers to individuals have grown by more than 700 percent over the last 50 years. … There are sensible conclusions to be drawn from these facts. You could say that the entitlement state is growing at an unsustainable rate and will bankrupt the country.
-David Brooks, ‘Thurston Howell Romney,