JB> This should make the Dems happy.....  and the rest of us
 JB> afraid...

 It should make you afraid, because it's your fault.

 Note that they conflate social welfare with welfare. They define
 social welfare as anything that isn't military.

 They also declare a conflict between increasing earned wages and
 decreasing welfare, not even coming up with the idea that the
 way to reduce welfare *IS* to increase earned wages.

 They do mention the economic problems as a contributor to the
 problem, but fail to make it clear that the recession, following
 8 years of Bush league economics, is the actual cause of the
 problem.

 We democrats want to end welfare, by having enough jobs to
 employ all who need a job. Do that and welfare becomes moot,
 except for the very few who are so severly handicapped they will
 never be able to work.

 Oh, and they strongly imply social security is welfare, and a
 major cause of the problem.

 JB> ========================================

http://www.cnbc.com/id/41969508

 JB> Welfare State: Handouts Make Up One-Third of U.S. Wages

 JB> Published: Tuesday, 8 Mar 2011 | 3:59 PM ET
 JB> By: John Melloy
 JB> Executive Producer, Fast Money

 JB> Government payouts, including Social Security, Medicare and
 JB> unemployment insurance—make up more than a third of total
 JB> wages and salaries of the U.S. population, a record figure
 JB> that will only increase if action isn’t taken before the
 JB> majority of Baby Boomers enter retirement.

 JB>

 JB> Even as the economy has recovered, social welfare benefits
 JB> make up 35 percent of wages and salaries this year, up from
 JB> 21 percent in 2000 and 10 percent in 1960, according to
 JB> TrimTabs Investment Research using Bureau of Economic
 JB> Analysis data.

 JB> “The U.S. economy has become alarmingly dependent on
 JB> government stimulus,” said Madeline Schnapp, director of
 JB> Macroeconomic Research at TrimTabs, in a note to clients.
 JB> “Consumption supported by wages and salaries is a much
 JB> stronger foundation for economic growth than consumption
 JB> based on social welfare benefits.”

 JB> The economist gives the country two stark choices. In order
 JB> to get welfare back to its pre-recession ratio of 26
 JB> percent of pay, “either wages and salaries would have to
 JB> increase $2.3 trillion, or 35 percent, to $8.8 trillion, or
 JB> social welfare benefits would have to decline $500 billion,
 JB> or 23 percent, to $1.7 trillion,” she said.

 JB> Last month, the Republican-led House of Representatives
 JB> passed a $61 billion federal spending cut, but Senate
 JB> Democratic leaders and the White House made it clear that
 JB> had no chance of becoming law. Short-term resolutions
 JB> passed have averted a government shutdown that could have
 JB> occurred this month, as Vice President Biden leads
 JB> negotiations with Republican leaders on some sort of
 JB> long-term compromise.

 JB> Smart Traders Taking Profits In Oil?
 JB> Three ECB Rate Hikes, Too Much of a Good Thing for Euro?
 JB> SLIDESHOW: Fast Money’s ‘Beat China’ Playbook
 JB> “You’ve got to cut back government spending and the
 JB> Republicans will run on this platform leading up to next
 JB> year’s election,” said Joe Terranova, Chief Market
 JB> Strategist for Virtus Investment Partners and a “Fast
 JB> Money” trader.

 JB>

 JB> Terranova noted some sort of opt out for social security or
 JB> even raising the retirement age.

 JB> But the country may not be ready for these tough choices,
 JB> even though economists like Schnapp say something will have
 JB> to be done to avoid a significant economic crisis.

 JB> A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released last week
 JB> showed that  less than a quarter of Americans supported
 JB> making cuts to Social Security or Medicare in order to
 JB> reign in the mounting budget deficit.

 JB> Those poll numbers may be skewed by a demographic shift the
 JB> likes of which the nation has never seen. Only this year
 JB> has the first round of baby boomers begun collecting
 JB> Medicare benefits—and here comes 78 million more.

 JB> Social welfare benefits have increased by $514 billion over
 JB> the last two years, according to TrimTabs figures, in part
 JB> because of measures implemented to fight the financial
 JB> crisis. Government spending normally takes on a larger part
 JB> of the spending pie during economic calamities but how can
 JB> the country change this make-up with the root of the crisis
 JB> (housing) still on shaky ground, benchmark interest rates
 JB> already cut to zero, and a demographic shift that calls for
 JB> an increase in subsidies?

 JB> At the very least, we can take solace in the fact that
 JB> we’re not quite at the state welfare levels of Europe. In
 JB> the U.K., social welfare benefits make up 44 percent of
 JB> wages and salaries, according to TrimTabs’ Schnapp.

 JB> “No matter how bad the situation is in the US, we stand far
 JB> better on these issues (debt, demographics,
 JB> entrepreneurship) than other countries,” said Steve Cortes
 JB> of Veracruz Research. “On a relative basis, America remains
 JB> the world leader and, as such, will also remain the world's
 JB> reserve currency.”

 JB> --- PCBoard (R) v15.3/M 10
 JB>  * Origin:  (1:226/600)

BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

... The problem is jobs... the solution is jobs...
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