Thread Highjacker mars Christmas Celebration

Over at Freedom Eden (see link) Mary posted a Christmas tribute featuring a beautiful portrait of the Madonna and Child and the lyrics from the song "Mary Did You Know?"As happens on blogs, a "very passionate and compassionate" young man barged onto the scene railing:

"...you actually think that cutting medicare, cutting the enforcement of child care payments, cutting student loans and food stamps helps people!"

His rhetoric made for good drama but according to the Congressional Budget Office and the House of Representatives, here are the facts:

Spending on food stamps went from $29 billion in 2004 to $33 billion in 2005 and is projected to remain there through 2009.

Federal Child Support Enforcement spending increased from $1 billion (2000) to $4 billion (2005)

Medicaid spending increased $89.1 billion (1995) to a projected $193.2 billion in 2006. No cuts in Medicaid spending are proposed. President Bush has proposed to cut the annual growth rate from 7.6% to 7.3%.

Foster Care and Adoption Assistance spending increased from $5.7 billion in 2000 to $6.8 billion in 2005.

All forms of Federal Student aid have gone from about $57 billion in 2000 to $90 billion in 2005. Pell Grant Funding has increased 10.3% per year since 2000. No child left behind has grown 40%. Secondary Education spending has increased from $422.8 billion in 2000 to $537 billion in 2005.

Spending on Veterans has doubled since 1995.

When confronted with the facts, the left resorts to the class warfare rhetoric with "Republicans are giving all the tax cuts to the rich. You're greedy and the poor are suffering. Raise taxes, spend more on welfare and less on war."

The Heritage Foundation says:

Even with the historic reform in 1996, the welfare system is expensive and growing. In the nearly 40 years since President Lyndon Johnson launched the War on Poverty, the nation has spent $8.29 trillion (in constant 2000 dollars) on means-tested assistance: food, housing, medical care, and social services for poor and low-income Americans. Welfare spending dwarfs many other government expenditures. In recent years, for example, the nation has spent $1.45 on means-tested welfare for every $1.00 spent on national defense.

Even after spending over $8 trillion, the poor are still with us. Conservatives think the massive welfare spending has been counter productive and only served to keep generations of Americans poor and on the Democrat plantation.

There are no proposed budget cuts. Only cuts in the rate of annual growth. In fact, its the out-of-control spending that worries conservatives. The wild spending by Congress and the President have gained them no new supporters from the left and needs to stop, now!

The Center on Budget and Priorities breaks down Federal Spending categories as:
41% Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid
14% All other entitlement programs
7% Interest on the National Debt
19% Non Defense Appropriations
20% Defense

Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are projected to grow to even greater percentages of the budget in the next decades and unless real reforms are made, could bankrupt the country or raise tax burdens back to levels unseen since just after WWII. Conservatives fear that tax burdens of 50% to 70% of income will remove all incentives for reinvesting income into the economy. If a "rising tide lifts all ships," higher taxer rates could be the falling tide which throws everyone into the mud of a third-rate economy.

Reopening a closed mind takes a long time and a lot of patience. Idealistic young people should be shown the right way with logical arguments in the hope that as they mature, they will see the light.

Older lefties are a different matter.