(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
At least one in six people in the United States gets government handouts: unemployment insurance, food stamps, Medicaid, rent subsidies, you name it. And lots of Americans get money from more than one of these programs.
Republican Congressman Ron Paul of Texas says we simply cannot afford all the entitlement and welfare programs we currently have. Paul, one of the few voices of reason in Washington when it comes to our debt crisis, is predicting an end to the nanny state in this country.
Paul wrote this on his website on Tuesday:
"Instead of dealing seriously with our situation, so many in Washington would rather allow the chaos that will ensue when all of the dependent people are suddenly cut off. Better to...tell people the difficult truth that government is simply not capable of managing people's lives from cradle to grave as was foolishly promised."
He's right. Think about it. When many of our ancestors came here generations ago, there were no welfare programs like food stamps or rent subsidies. And yet the poor and uneducated, people from places like Italy and Ireland who didn't even speak English, managed to survive and in time actually thrive and prosper in this country.
Back when we had no federal Department of Education our schools were the best in the world. Now they're among the worst.
Before the Department of Housing and Urban Development, our cities were bustling centers of progress and economic growth. Now many of them are in decay or decline with growing poverty and shrinking opportunity. See Detroit. But when people like Paul Ryan talk about cutting government spending on some of this stuff the Democrats get apoplectic.
Here’s my question to you: Is the end of the nanny state in the U.S. inevitable?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
David in Laguna Niguel, California:
Not until the dollar totally collapses. As along as over half the population pays no taxes, the politicians will continue to buy their votes with the other 49 percent's money. When it takes a wheelbarrow full of money to buy a loaf of bread, things will finally change.
Roy in Jacksonville, Florida:
It is amazing that this nation, which was built upon its citizens carving out homes, farms and enterprises in the wild wilderness on their own grit and determination, now has about half its citizens on federal handouts at the expense of about 2% of its fellow citizens. We have become a nation where a small group of enablers thinks that they have the right to take other peoples money and give it away to others solely for the sake of themselves acquiring and keeping power.
Pat in Michigan:
It better be or we are done for. You gotta work for your supper. Even if you take less to start with.
Don:
The nanny state is an absolute requirement for a just society. The recent proposals by the rich and powerful to dismantle the most basic of social programs, if implemented, will almost certainly cause chaos and widespread civil disobedience in America. Corporate tax evasion and grossly low income taxes for those with an easy ability to pay are chipping away the social safety net through the back door.
Kevin in New Hampshire:
Before the nanny state can end, we're going to have to go back to the world our great-grandparents knew: a local community that needs everyone to produce its own food, its own services, its own transportation, its own education. That gives everyone a job and a very modest livelihood. Goodbye interstates, massive corporations, and everything being bought from Wal-Mart. You can't have one without the other.
Luke:
Open your eyes. Hello! Most civilized, developed countries are doing fine; except us. Look at Canada, Norway, etc. They pay taxes and live without the damn drama. I'm tired of all this right wing stuff. I'm willing to pay more taxes to be civilized and compassionate. Are you?