U.S. Ranks Dead Last In Overall Social Spending

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.politicususa.com/en/u-s-ranks-dead-last-in-overall-social-spending

This report from the OECD and The Business Insider, could not have come at a more crucial time in our national debate regarding the federal budget and the course the Republicans have chosen to take.

The conservative pundits are trying to frame this debate along the lines that the deficit and debt of the United States was created by the liberal, nanny state programs. This is an outright lie they have drummed into the heads of the American people. Unfortunately, some of the pundits are trusted sources of information for millions of people.

The United States currently ranks thirty-fourth(34th) out of the thirty-four(34) members of the OECD in regards to spending on social programs, DEAD LAST.

The amount the United States spends is currently only 7.2% of our gross domestic product on programs that make up our social contract with the American people.

More at the link --

[mmonk]

1. But but...socialism ......big guvmint .........taxes ........commies......

[Keith Bee]

2. !!!

:scared:

[geardaddy]

60. +1

lol

[butterfly77]

3. And both sides..

are all over television giving reasons how they can make it worse..

[SoCalDem]

4. But we are Numero Uno in invisible bootstraps...n/t

[mmonk]

7. +1000

[robinlynne]

5. this is important, crucial!!!

[999998th word]

34. You have the 'dead 'part right if lyin Ryan gets his way.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

6. Yes. We are the only first world country without socialized medicine.

Oh, but we're the greatest country in the world. And the freest and the richest...
All three of the above statements are false.
Duckie

[murphyj87]

13. Actually The US HAS the only socialized medicine in North America and most of the developed world

Socialized medicine means that the government OWNS the hospitals and that physicians, nurses, and hospital staff are CIVIL SERVANTS, and the government tells physicians and staff where and when they work. In the US, you call your socialized medicine Dept. of Defence and DVA health care. Other than Britain, there is very little socialized medicine in the world. Most industrialized nations have single payer systems, not socialized medicine.

Canada does NOT have socialized medicine. Canada has a single payer system. Hospitals are non profit, but privately owned (many by religious organizations). The government does not own the hospitals. Canadian physicians are not civil servants. The physicians, themselves, decide where and when they work, as opposed to socialized medicine, where the government decides that. Single payer and socialized medicine are diameterical opposites.

If hospitals are independently owned and physicians are in private practice (both of which are the case in Canada) it is not socialized medicine.

On the other hand, with DoD and DVA health care in the US, that is the only socialized medicine in North America.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

16. And you know that is not what I was referring to...

We do not have socialized medicine in America. It is not provided to everyone without profit. My mother has not had proper health care since before my father retired prior to his death in 96. If we had socialized medicine in this country, it would be provided for all at no charge. Maybe what I call socialized healthcare and you call single payer health care are the same thing?
Duckie

[murphyj87]

71. Yes You do...

Military and DVA health care in the US IS the only socialized medicine in North America. The US federal Government owns those military and DVA hospitals and the physicians and staff of those hospitals are civil servants, so the federal government tells those physicians and staff in military and DVA hospitals where and when they work, so that IS socialized medicine, completely different from what we have in Canada, which is NOT socialized medicine, but is a single payer system, which is the diameterical opposite of socialized medicine.

[murphyj87]

79. My point is

My point is term you use, socialized medicine does not meet the real definition of socialized medicine. Americans demonstrate their lack of education and general knowledge by always misusing the term. If you get your nose out of your American dictionary and do some reading in a non-American dictionary (since it is even misused in American dictionaries because Americnas have misused it for so long), you will find what the real definition of socialized medicine is.

The true definition of socialized medicine (not the one you Americans always misuse) is:

The original (non American) meaning of socialized medicine is confined to systems in which the government operates health care facilities and employs health care professionals. This narrower usage, which is used everywhere but by some in the United States, would apply to the British National Health Service hospital trusts and health systems that operate in other countries as diverse as Finland, Spain, Israel, and Cuba. The United States' Veterans Health Administration, and the medical departments of the US Army, Navy, and Air Force would also fall under this narrow definition. When used in this way, the narrow definition permits a clear distinction from single payer health insurance systems, in which the government finances health care but is not involved in care delivery.

The last line, (single payer, i.e not socialized medicine) applies to Canada.

[murphyj87]

84. American thinking and American English and Canadian thinking and Canadian English

Of course, there are many differences besides the meaning of socialized medicine between the way Americans and Canadians think and also between Canadian English and American English (these are just a few I can think of off the top of my head, there are thousands more)

Americans have "indians" Canadians have "people of the First Nations"

Americans have "eskimos" Canadians have "Inuit"

Americans have "soda" Canadians have "pop"

Americans have "candy bars" Canadians have "chocolate bars"

Americans have "Chex" Canadians have"Shreddies"

Americans have "non dairy creamer" Canadians have "coffee whitener"

Americans have "Everclear" Canadians have "Alcool" (french for 96% alcohol)

Americans have "Ring Dings" Canadians have "Jos and Louis"

Americans have "Canadian bacon" Canadians have "back bacon"

Americans have "dollars" Canadians have "loonies" (loon on the back of the dollar coin)

Americans have "two dollar bills" Canadians have "toonies" (coin worth two loonies)

Americans have "unemployment insurance" Canadians have "pogie"

Americans have "bathrobes" Canadians have "housecoats"

Americans have "sofas" Canadains have "chesterfields"

Americans have "gutters" Canadians have "eavestroughs"

Americans have "Memorial Day" (May) Canadians have "Remembrance Day" (November 11)

Americans have "Columbus Day" when Canadians have "Thanksgiving Day" (2nd Monday in October)

Americans have "Thanksgiving Day" (November) when Canadians have nothing

Americans have nothing (December 26) when Canadians have "Boxing Day" (holiday)

Americans have nothing (Monday after Easter) when Canadians have "Easter Monday" (holiday)

[provis99]

29. hospitals in Canada are not privately owned.

They are all government owned, though some of them are administered by religious institutions.

[murphyj87]

70. They may be owned

Most hospitals in this area are owned by religious organizations, the Salvation Army and Sisters of Charity the rest are owned by philanthropic foundations. I think if you do more research that you will find that your conclusions are not correct. Hospitals may be operated by regional health authorities which are at arms length from government, but are not part of government in and of themselves, but no hospital is owned by the provincial or federal government (the ones that pay the hospital and physician bills), unless you have a militray hospital in your area which may or may not be owned by the government as it is in the United States, but no non-military hospitals in Canada have anything but independent, non governmental boards and very few, and more likely none, are directly owned by governments.

[murphyj87]

73. No they're not

Hospitals in Canada are not government owned and any Canadian who knows what is going on knows that.

[madrchsod]

8. we spend more on war than all the world`s countries combined...

[bullwinkle428]

9. Wish I could rec. 1000 times!

[Terra Alta]

10. the solution to that

is to stop spending so much on our national defense and start spending more to help the poor and sick people in our country. The sooner conservatives realize that, the better.

[dkf]

11. Author corrected 7.2% to 16.2%. Not sure where than ranks us.

Update: I used some information that has since been corrected on the original site, Business Insider. It turns out that the United States spends 16.2% of our GDP on social programs, NOT 7.2%.

[eridani]

24. Only if you count Social Security as general revenue. This is bullshit

Or perhaps you have some other explanation for why it is listed separately on the W-2 form?

[JDPriestly]

25. Other Western countries have paid maternity leave for new mothers.

Many give stipends to virtually all families with small children.

There are so many other social programs including more generous unemployment arrangements, free college tuition for a much larger number of the qualified students, and so many other social programs that we would not even believe.

[Gormy Cuss]

56. Ninth from the bottom of the 34 OECD countries is where the U.S. ranks.

IOW, not as bad as the bottom but pretty far down the list for one of the riches countries on Earth. OECD's profile points out that the U.S. is far above average among OECD countries when it comes to income inequality and rate of population in poverty.

[murphyj87]

12. American "health care", I mean death care

The US is also dead last in health care among developed, industrialized nations. France is #1. Canada is #6. Britain is #17. The United States is #19 and dead last.

Some Americans pretend that people come to the US for treatment, but why would anyone go from a nation where everyone is guaranteed health care to the only industrialized nation that can't even provide health care to all of its citizens? The fact that over 100 million Americans (38% of Americans) can't even see a physician, let alone have any kind of treatment, negates any claim of the United States to having a real health care system.

Tens of thousands of Americans are living in exile in Canada because they CAN get health care in Canada that they would be denied if they went home to the US. Those Americans choose to live in Canada, rather than be left to die in the US.

Americans living in exile in Canada

A Canadian look at American health care

Canadians look at Canadian health care, with oblique shots at American health care, which most Canadians make

[raccoon]

81. Thanks for those great links! those are keepers. nt

[murphyj87]

85. Kathleen

Kathleen, the younger of the two, with the son with dermatomyacitis, is the producer of that video.

[indepat]

14. But in the US, job #1 is corporate and wealth welfare via a grossly unfair tax code and wholly

irresponsible fiscal policy that have been in effect for 22 of the last 30 years: job number two is, of course, to gorge the MIC so we can exert global hegemony. You just can't offer even a minimally adequate social program when you must gorge the wealthy, large corporations, and the MIC, while global hegemony is being exerted as evidenced by three running wars. Hundreds of millions of American will just have suck it up and be be pushed into/near a third-world status for these monsters must be gorged. Please prove me wrong so blame for this bleak assessment can be attributed to just being a nattering nabob of negativism. :patriot:

[chervilant]

51. hmm...

While I agree with your assessment hereinabove, I've come to realize that titles such as "US ranks dead last" enable the hoi polloi--that would be us common peeople--to distance ourselves from personal responsibility for 'the way things are.' And, before anyone asserts that the uber wealthy corporatists and MIC are 'to blame' and are 'too powerful and have way too much money' for us to fight them, these--again--are realities we common folk have to face. And, we have to plan our activism accordingly. Yes, it seems daunting to rise up against 'the Machine,' but rise up we must--if not for our own sorry butts, then for our children.

[Curmudgeoness]

15. And dead first in defense spending. Check out the graph

posted in another thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x288702

Impossible to comprehend this budget debate.

[ooglymoogly]

17. But we are first in prison population and incarcerating those who

perpetrate victimless "crimes" and we make a lot more money confiscating the homes and property from the citizens who commit victimless "crimes" (so designated by our police state). Its all good.... Any body for slow boiled frogs legs.

[iwishiwas]

18. And the Repugs with the help of many Dems continue to bleed the 7.2% day

by day. Horrible state of affairs!!--and with the Repug Governors it gets worse!

[snot]

19. K&R'd!

[defendandprotect]

20. DEAD LAST -- !!

[spanone]

21. and that's still waaaaay too much for any republican

[slipslidingaway]

22. I'm all confused, 40% of my tax dollars go to SS, Medicare and Medicaid...

"View an interactive breakdown of where your tax dollars go in the Federal budget."

http://www.whitehouse.gov/winning-the-future/

[JDPriestly]

26. We pay so much money for our military, and the rich don't pay as high

a percentage of their income for taxes as people do in other countries.

[slipslidingaway]

27. But that is not what the graph or calculator shows on the WH site ...

it tells me that the majority of taxes go to SS, Medicare and Medicaid. A quick glance tells me the military is minor in comparison.

:shrug:

[Wednesdays]

43. I take it you're not a billionaire

Cuz those making billions pay the exact dollar amount for Social Security as do those making $200k. Which means their percentage shrinks substantially.

In short, those who can afford to pay lots into the system are contributing only a fraction of 1%.

[slipslidingaway]

90. Far from a billionaire or millionaire, but there are two sides to the SS equation...

what is contributed and what is paid out. Currently there is a limit on both sides, if we change one side, do we change the other?

Do we want to change the relationship between contributions and benefits paid and what are the consequences? If we change the relationship will it then be viewed more as a welfare program, just throwing out some questions we need to think about.

:hi:

[slipslidingaway]

28. The White House Has Put Out A Calculator To See How Your Tax Dollars Are Being Spent...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=910122&mesg_id=910122

http://www.whitehouse.gov/taxreceipt

Here is the other link, under each income level, according to this link our tax dollars go to SS and Medicare.

[cui bono]

55. But the highest income it lets you put in for single no children is $25,000

So it's very misleading (surprise) since you can't put in a very high amount and see that rich people stop paying in to SS after a certain income level.

[slipslidingaway]

88. Limited options, between the graph and the calculator on the WH site...

it shows, for most Americans, the majority of their tax dollars go to SS, Medicare and Medicaid.

[bvar22]

68. whitehouse.gov is a propaganda site.

The purpose of whitehouse.gov is to promote the White House,
not tell the truth.
It doesn't matter whether the Democrats or Republicans are in the White House.

It is a cool site to visit,
but look elsewhere (preferably the Foreign Press) for the whole story.







Who will STAND and FIGHT for THIS American Majority?
"By their WORKS you will know them,"

[slipslidingaway]

89. Certainly looks that way and we should talk about it regardless of party. n/t

[PatSeg]

59. Health care costs in this country

are ridiculously high. I believe they are the highest in the world, as in we pay the most for the least health care. Also we have crooks like Rick Scott who rip off those programs.

[murphyj87]

76. Health costs as a % of GDP

Health costs in the US are 17% of US GDP

Health costs in France are 11% of French GDP

Health costs in Germany are 10.4% of German GDP

Health costs in Canada are 10.1% of Canadian GDP

Health costs in Sweden are 9.l% of Swedish GDP

Health costs in Australia are 8.7% of Australian GDP

Health costs in Britain are 8.4% of British GDP

Health costs in Japan are 8.1% of Japanese GDP

[PatSeg]

83. Thanks

That was what I was thinking of.

[csziggy]

86. And in those other countries EVERYONE is covered

Where here, a large and growing percentage of our citizens is not covered. What is wrong with Americans that we care so little for our own people?

[murphyj87]

80. I saw this by another Canadian on another message board. This is how Canadians think.

Jack Layton was explaining the idea of prevention as a cornerstone of health care to the Americans when he spoke at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in the US. The Yanks want to reduce health care costs, and Jack is telling them what the CCF and NDP knew decades ago - that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

They can't be healthy down there anyway with neoconservative deregulation and emphasis on profits before people. How dumb it is to allow 70% of cattle feed to consist of chicken shit. That's what deregulation does. They've got to start using their heads for higher purposes than just hat racks in the US. Good health and quality of life go together.

(as does productivity in business - JCM)

[PatSeg]

82. There's no money to be made off of prevention

but SICK PEOPLE are so profitable. And if they aren't sick, big pharma will create a disease for them so they can sell a new patented drug. Don't you just love Free Enterprise?

[slipslidingaway]

91. We should have had a full discussion of HC costs in the last couple of years...

there was no doubt in my mind that once HCR was passed, without discussion of all HC costs, we would hear about the out of control costs of Medicare and Medicaid.

[rpannier]

23. That's because they have no money for social spending

They're out of money once the bonuses are paid

[yngdip]

30. It is a travesty and a shame that we are

1st in defense and last in social spending :crazy:


However, there is hope. Not all politicians are shoveling the same garbage around, the Progressive Caucus' 'People's Budget' recommends single payer and defense cuts...so someone has been listening to the American people http://cpc.grijalva.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=70§iontree=5,70

[woo me with science]

31. K&R nt

[avaistheone1]

32. Wow!

Who knew? Good article to share with republican buddies.

k&r

:kick:

[Rex]

33. This is why repukes suck and need to be voted out of office

with great haste!

They feel the social contract means they can abuse people with corporate power over the individual. This is followed by a massive PR campaign of lies and falsehoods fueled by emotions and jingoism. Lastly they rewrite anything that doesn't jibe with their lies and will even lie about changing anything. This used with their knowledge of the ever shrinking consumer attention span, causes millions of Americans to live life under a false assumption about the ruling party and how our government needs to be run properly for maximum benefit. EVEN with a report showing America in DEAD LAST in social spending...the repuke neophyte will look at you and repeat some lie heard on their favortie RW hate radio show, not to long ago. Then they nod their head like they told you a FACT and move on.

Funny how that all works.

[Citizen Worker]

35. But we have more combatant ships, aircraft, missiles, guns and bullets then the rest of the world.

So, you see, we are Number 1, in killing and maiming.

[BR_Parkway]

36. And that is apparently 9.3% of GDP too much according to Republicans

I swear I would not be shocked to see them trying implement some type of poor tax next

[PatrynXX]

37. Which is why if Republicans were serious about cutting spending

they'd cut (like the american people want) the defense budget first. which they won't for whatever dumb reason.

[pampango]

38. "Canada spends 26% of their GDP on social programs." "United States spends currently only 7.2%".

The only good news in this is that it is something that Americans are doing to themselves (or, more accurately, that some Americans are doing to other Americans). It is not something that is forced on us by foreigners or other countries, but is something that we can change if we have the political will to do so.

The 33 OECD countries that spend more on their own people than the US, are all democracies in which the people have forced their governments to adopt progressive social spending policies in the face of past (and current) conservative opposition. These OECD countries are not run by benevolent dictators who magically keep conservative in place. Conservatives never stop fighting to lower social spending. (Indeed they are enjoying some success at it in Europe now largely due to effects of the economic crisis that Bush inflicted on the world.) So progressives can never stop fighting for our vision of society even in countries that have achieved much more in terms of a fairer society (like Canada, Japan, Australia and Europe) than we have.

[hfojvt]

62. except there is now an update

"Update: I used some information that has since been corrected on the original site, Business Insider. It turns out that the United States spends 16.2% of our GDP on social programs, NOT 7.2%."

So I wonder if we are still last.

[Redbear]

65. I believe it puts us 26th out of 34.

Mexico, Turkey, and Chile are at the bottom.

[indimuse]

39. knr!

we keep allowing criminals to RULE us...sheeple sheeple sheeple..

[Kip Humphrey]

40. Everybody now... We're number LAST!, We're number LAST!

[BobbyBoring]

42. ASU! ASU! ASU!

[dotymed]

41. This report will never

see the light of day by our MSM.

[fascisthunter]

44. but, but, but... our financial issue are due to soshilism...burp

no, our problems are linked to fascism and corporate power over "We the People" and our government.

[paparush]

45. FUCK YOU KOCH BROTHERS YOU LYING SACKS OF SHIT!!!

Sorry for the rant. I don't think I've every done that before here on DU.

I'm so fed up with the lies.

I'm so fed up with the exploitation.

I'm so fed up with the gross wealth discrepancy in our country. In fact, it's starting to feel less like 'our' country and more like it's 'their' country and we are allowed to live here (at least for now)

[WinkyDink]

46. Best country in the WORLD!

[sinkingfeeling]

47. But we've got a world-wide empire and the guns to keep it that way!

[BigD_95]

48. might want to see the update b4 u email this info out

Update: I used some information that has since been corrected on the original site, Business Insider. It turns out that the United States spends 16.2% of our GDP on social programs, NOT 7.2%.

[Swampguana]

49. cut defense spending

[Deep13]

50. Does "United States" mean the whole country or just the Federal govt?

If it excludes state spending then the real picture might be significantly different. Of course Social Security and Medicare, the two biggest social welfare programs, are Federal.

[ladywnch]

52. tea baggers and rethugs are dancing in the streets over this news

if they had their way we would be spending '0' in social spending.......ah, something to shoot for I guess.

[patrice]

53. No social-contract, no America! nt

[G_j]

54. I guess being dead last is not good enough

for some, though the race to the bottom has already been won..

[bobbolink]

57. Its obvious that this country wants us poor people dead.

I think its time we complied.

[GreenPartyVoter]

87. There's no question that they do!

[slackmaster]

58. Good.

:nuke:

[flamingdem]

61. This information truly shocked me, Dems must use this

even if it makes our country look bad and we all move to France!

[Doremus]

63. Author has posted an update. NOT 7.2% but 16.2%.

Update: I used some information that has since been corrected on the original site, Business Insider. It turns out that the United States spends 16.2% of our GDP on social programs, NOT 7.2%.

[RedCloud]

64. We were lied to for decades by the puppets.

[ejbr]

66. k & r !! n/t

[OhioChick]

67. K&R n/t

[myrna minx]

69. K&R n/t

[krabigirl]

72. But we are number one in warfare spending! USA! USA!

[liberal N proud]

74. And when the GOP is finished, no one will beat us in that category

They will have us below most impoverished nations before they are done.

[Uncle Joe]

75. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Donnachaidh.

[LongTomH]

77. And is anybody surprised?

Hmmmm!!!!!:eyes:

[OwnedByFerrets]

78. Wooooooo Hooooooooooo, we're # 34.....oh wait