We've become a nation dependent on government.

 

The “I'm owed,” gimme, entitlement mentality is now the norm for a disturbingly large number of Americans who shouldn't be receiving any public assistance.

Our vaunted “safety net” has morphed into a dazzling array of federal programs. They're not just of necessity any longer but a lifestyle of choice for many indolent freeloaders.

These issues are graphically displayed in a new report by the Heritage Foundation on the American public's dependence on the federal government in President Obama's ObamaNation.

ñ     Dependence on the federal government is up 23% in just two years.

ñ     67 million Americans are now replying on some form of federal program.

ñ     Dependence programs now account for some 70% of  the federal budget.

ñ     Almost half (49.5%) of Americans didn't pay income taxes in 2009, the latest year for which the researchers have data.

ñ     The number of people dependent on the federal government shot up 7.5% in the past two years

ñ     In 2010, for the first time ever, average spending on dependence programs per recipient exceeded the country's per-capita disposable income.

The recession isn't the main cause of the rise in dependence in ObamaNation.

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The Heritage reports says the “team's research shows that economic effects account for only one-fifth of the change in the Index of Dependence on Government.”

These government dependence programs set the standard for waste, fraud and abuse.

The Heritage report also quotes Larry Summers, Obama's former economic adviser: “government assistance programs contribute to long-term unemployment ... by providing an incentive, and the means, not to work."

 In an attempt to rein in “this incentive not to work,” the Georgia Department of  Labor is implementing new hardware to detect fraudulent unemployment claims.

And unemployment compensation is just the tip of the fraudulent iceberg

Other dependence programs are also full of parasites who've learned to scam the system - even boasting about it.

Medicaid and SSI are rife with beneficiaries who shouldn't be on the dole. Then there's Food Stamps, a program famously flawed for its misuse. And we have teenage girls downloading out-of-wedlock babies and getting AFDC checks to foot the bills.

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The same crowd of freeloaders who line-up to be the first to purchase a $200 pair of Air Jordans, are lined-up the next day to apply for subsidized federal housing assistance: with high tech cellphones in hand.

And dependence programs keep growing in ObamaNation.

The federal government, in addition to school lunches, is now in the supper business as part of its Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids legislation passed in 2010. I guess Food Stamps aren't enough.

Where will it end?

Dependence programs breed people who don't work for a living but vote for a living. And they vote for the party of government - the Democratic Party. These voters are a vital part of Obama's constituency.

Our dependent nation, ObamaNation resembles that of European-style welfare states. And as it grows, bondage is sure to follow:

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship... to dependence, from dependence again to bondage.” (Author Unknown,Unverified).

ObamaNation? It's an Abomination!