"Why taxpayers are so angry -- and so wrong about spending" from The Fiscal Times

[anneboleyn]

by Mark Thomas, The Fiscal Times

"Republicans, emboldened by public support for spending cuts, have taken the country to the brink of default as they fight to dial back government programs and vehemently oppose any tax increases to attack the deficit. But is the fight over the debt ceiling really an ideological battle between the two parties over the size and role of government? Or is a lot of the public support for GOP positions driven by myopia about entitlement spending and misplaced public anger?

The fact is, most people believe they pay far more to the government than they receive in return. To a surprising degree, Americans underestimate their actual consumption of government services and tax breaks. For example, 43% of people receiving unemployment insurance deny they receive government benefits, and 40% of those on Medicare answer the same way: They do not use government programs.

For the most part, people believe their taxes go to support other people. This wrongheaded perception helps explain the strong support for spending cuts. However, not just any spending cuts will do. What irate citizens object to is being forced to pay for "undeserving" recipients of government services."

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2011/07/20/Why-Taxpayers-Are-So-Angry-and-So-Wrong-About-Spending.aspx#page1

[pnwmom]

1. Ayn Rand accepted Social Security and Medicare under a different name

rather than admit she was taking government benefits.

Her followers are also fooling themselves.

[anneboleyn]

2. yes, exactly -- yet they are demanding cuts. It doesn't make any sense, but then again the tea party

types are not about rational ideas.

[LARED]

3. I can understand why people receiving unemployment

benefits don't see those benefits as provided by the government. Unemployment is an insurance fund that most pay into their whole lives for the times you may be unemployed. If I was unemployed I would not think for a minute that I am getting someones else's money.

[tblue37]

5. BUT when spending cuts are enacted, unemployment checks, SS, and

Medicare are precisely the government programs that will be cut. The politicians keep calling SS and unemployment "entitlements," not self-funded insurance programs.

[LARED]

8. It suits them to call unemployment an entitlement

Also at least in NJ unemployment is a state benefit not a federal program.

[Gman]

10. All employers in all states pay federal UI

$56 per employee per year. Form 940, IIRC

[Gman]

9. I don't know about your state, but in Texas and many other states,

Workers don't pay into unemployment insurance. The employer does. Both state and federal funds. It's a common misperception.

[xchrom]

4. Recommend

[mmonk]

6. It is why implementation of the shock doctrine here is going much easier

than Chile and Iraq. The people have been mind framed. Resistance is small.

[Historic NY]

7. its not a benefit when they're getting it.....because they are entitled to it.

[ladywnch]

11. confirms my belief that the majority of Americans are ignorant ,

uneducated, cattle, devoid of any critical thinking skills