The American Welfare State...

[Eupher]

...and how we spend nearly $1 Trillion per year fighting poverty -- and FAIL.

Total spent to "fight" poverty since 1964, when LBJ announced his "war on poverty" - $15 Trillion

Percentage of people at poverty level in 1964 - 19% and falling
Percentage of people at poverty level in 2013 - 15.1% and rising

Number of federal programs that "fight" poverty - 126

Expansion of federal spending to "fight" poverty under Obama - 41%

Federal spending in 2013 to "fight" poverty - $668 billion
State spending in 2013 to "fight" poverty - $284 billion

Despite all this spending since 1964, the poverty rate never fell below 10.5%

Single largest welfare program -- Medicaid. Spending topped $288 billion in 2011.

No. 2 is food stamps. Nearly 41 million people or 15% of the entire population receive food stamps. Highest number in U.S. history.

The Cato Institute published this report highlighting all of this and extols a new way of thinking about welfare -- instead of making poverty more comfortable for people, institute plans that help create prosperity that launches people out of poverty.

http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/PA694.pdf

I would ask the mods to put this post/information in the Political Ammunition forum. When the moonbats cry for more money for more welfare, this study should prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that WELFARE DOES NOT REDUCE POVERTY -- IF ANYTHING, WELFARE INCREASES POVERTY.

[obumazombie]

Don't worry, we'll fund it all out of the Social Security account by issuing IOUs. What could go wrong ?

[Dori]

Wouldn't it have been cheaper to give every poor person a one time payment of a million dollars and be done with it and all the government BS that goes with it?

[Eupher]

Wouldn't it have been cheaper to give every poor person a one time payment of a million dollars and be done with it and all the government BS that goes with it?

Treats the symptom and not the problem. That's the point of the study. You can throw money at a problem all day long, that will not fix the problem. The proglodytes haven't learned that yet.

[Wineslob]

I've found that it won't change the people that it "helps". They have no inclination to change.

[thundley4]

Single largest welfare program -- Medicaid. Spending topped $288 billion in 2011.

Do away with Medicaid. It encourages people to go to emergency rooms and doctors for minor matters since they know they don't have to pay.  Let the hospitals and doctors try to collect payment first, and if unsuccessful, they get some sort of reimbursement from Uncle Sugar.

OTOH, doctors and hospitals should be encouraged to set up payment plans for people. (Hospitals already do that to some extent.)