"97 Percent Of Republicans Use Government Social Programs: Survey"

[applegrove]

97 Percent Of Republicans Use Government Social Programs: Survey

The Huffington Post | By Harry Bradford

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/25/government-social-programs_n_1913155.html

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When asked about participating in specific government social programs, 97 percent of Republicans and 98 percent of Democrats say they have taken part in a government program of some kind, according to a 2008 survey run by the Cornell Survey Research Institute. Not just one or two either; the survey found that people had used around five social policies on average.

The thing is, more than half the country denies having used a government program at all.

Those findings are of particular interest now, after a Mitt Romney fundraising video leaked, one in which he called the 47 percent of Americans who don’t pay income taxes “dependent on government.” This survey’s findings show that those Americans who pay income taxes are also benefitting from government assistance in some form, even if they are not fully aware of it.

The confusion may come from what some call “submerged” government policies, those distributed via the tax code or through private organizations. It’s these types of benefits that explain comments like those of one man who in 2009 told his local congressman to “keep your government hands off my Medicare” at a town hall meeting, the NYT reports. Around a quarter of Medicare benefits were distributed through private insurance companies in 2010.

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[Scuba]

1. 100% if you consider that our highways and other roads are "socialist" in nature.

[ananda]

2. They just don't want to pay taxes so that Black people can use the services.

The new Jim Crow, but it hurts everyone.

[bluestate10]

3. Not surprising given that states that republicans dominate are almost all beggar states.

The beggar designation alone would say that many of the citizens in those states depend upon the federal government for their incomes and benefits. I don't have a problem with beggar state people using government for help, I just wish the politicians that the majority of beggar state voters elect would recognize their state's plights and behave as if they are part of a larger commonwealth.