From The Heritage Foundation:
InsiderOnline Blog: December 2011
War on Poverty Keeps Bureaucrats Employed
If the government really wanted to lift people above the official poverty levels, it could do so for far less money than it currently spends on means-tested assistance, as Hadley Heath observes:
Our federal government spent nearly $700 billion on means-tested welfare programs in 2011. States added $250 billion to that for a rough total of $950 billion. Divide that by the 49 million Americans who are poor. That’s nearly $19,400 per person, or $77,600 for a family of four.
The federal government says you’re poor if you live alone and make less than $10,890, or if you’re in a family of four earning less than $22,350 per year. The problem, of course, is that just cutting people a check would put a lot of the bureaucrats out of work.
This observation comes from Heath’s report, “Welfare and Charity: Two Different Things,” published by the Independent Women’s Forum, December 2011.
Posted on 12/14/11 03:57 PM by Alex Adrianson
Blog Archive
InsiderOnline Blog: December 2011
War on Poverty Keeps Bureaucrats Employed
If the government really wanted to lift people above the official poverty levels, it could do so for far less money than it currently spends on means-tested assistance, as Hadley Heath observes:
Our federal government spent nearly $700 billion on means-tested welfare programs in 2011. States added $250 billion to that for a rough total of $950 billion. Divide that by the 49 million Americans who are poor. That’s nearly $19,400 per person, or $77,600 for a family of four.
The federal government says you’re poor if you live alone and make less than $10,890, or if you’re in a family of four earning less than $22,350 per year. The problem, of course, is that just cutting people a check would put a lot of the bureaucrats out of work.
This observation comes from Heath’s report, “Welfare and Charity: Two Different Things,” published by the Independent Women’s Forum, December 2011.
Posted on 12/14/11 03:57 PM by Alex Adrianson
Blog Archive
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