Opinion
Republicans Advance ‘Entitlement’ Lies
E
ven after the White House
and Congress stagger to
reach a last-minute deal to
avert yet another budget crisis,
there is a fundamental difference
in approach between the Obama
administration and House Repub-
licans. And those two stark
approaches to governing goes to
the type of society we want to be:
one that protects the needy or one
that protects the greedy.
Surprisingly, the Republicans’
position is crystal clear: they favor
extending special favors to the
wealthy at the expense of the most
vulnerable in our society.
“Republicans say that from here
on, we should do only spending
cuts, focusing on entitlement pro-
grams. But their approach to enti-
tlements is highly selective —
they seek to cut the entitlement
programs on the spending side of
the budget, whose benefits go
overwhelmingly to middle-class
and poor families. But they want
no deficit reduction to come from
the most wasteful and inefficient
of entitlements — those embedded
in the tax code,” observed Robert
Greenstein, director of the Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Republican leaders say they will
not budge on cutting tax expendi-
tures, a term for tax deductions,
exclusions, credits, and other tax
preferences that disproportionate-
ly benefit the wealthy.
“Senate Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell proclaimed in an op-
ed … ‘I have news for [President
Obama]: the moment that he and
virtually every other elected
Democrat in Washington signed
mates that for tax year 2011, the
fifth of the population will
T HE C URRY top
receive 66 percent of the $1.1 tril-
R EPORT
lion in individual tax-expenditure
benefits (the top 1 percent alone
will receive 23.9 percent of the
George E.
benefits), the middle 60 percent of
Curry
the population will receive slight-
ly more than 31 percent of the
benefits, and the bottom 20 per-
cent of the population will receive
off on the terms of the current only 2.8 percent.
The headline of another CBPP
arrangement, it was the last word
on taxes. That debate is over,’” report says it all: “Contrary to
Greenstein wrote. “Similarly, ‘Entitlement Society’ Rhetoric,
House Speaker John Boehner’s Over Nine-Tenths of Entitlement
Benefits Go to Elderly, Disabled,
staff declared, ‘As far as
we’re concerned, the tax issue
is off the table.’ This, despite
the fact that Boehner pro-
posed several hundred billion
dollars of additional revenues
during his negotiations with
President Obama only a few
weeks ago.”
What is it that Republicans
are so adamant about protect-
ing?
As Greenstein notes, “Tax
expenditures cost about $1.1
trillion a year, far more than
Social Security or than Medicare or Working Households.”
According to the study issued
and Medicaid combined and near-
ly two-thirds more than the total last year: “…”More than 90 per-
cost of all non-defense discre- cent of the benefit dollars that
entitlement and other mandatory
tionary programs.”
It is such a logical – and fair – programs spend go to assist people
place to cut that Martin Feldstein, who are elderly, seriously dis-
former chair of President Reagan’s abled, or members of working
Council of Economic Advisers, households – not to able-bodied,
said that “cutting tax expenditures w o r k i n g - a g e
is really the best way to reduce Americans who
choose not to
government spending.”
The Urban Institute-Brookings work.”
Mitt Romney
Institution Tax Policy Center esti-
was arguing the opposite position
in a surreptitiously recorded video
that contributed to his defeat
against President Obama.
“In Obama’s ‘entitlement socie-
ty,’ everyone receives the same or
similar rewards, regardless of edu-
cation, effort and willingness to
take risk,” Romney charged.
“Once we thought ‘entitlement’
meant that Americans were enti-
tled to the privilege of trying to
succeed in the greatest country in
the world. Americans fought and
died to earn and protect that enti-
tlement. But today the new entitle-
ment battle is over the size of the
‘Tax expenditures cost about $1.1 trillion
a year, far more than Social Security or
than Medicare and Medicaid combined
and nearly two-thirds more than the total
cost of all non-defense discretionary
programs’
check you get from Washington.”
That was a callous lie. In fact,
the CBPP study notes, “Federal
budget and Census data show that,
in 2010, 91 percent of the benefit
dollars from entitlement and other
mandatory programs went to the
elderly (people 65 and over), the
seriously disabled, and members
of working households. People
who are neither elderly nor dis-
abled – and do not live in a work-
ing household – received only 9
percent of the benefits.”
Moreover, the study found, “the
vast bulk of that 9 percent goes for
medical care, unemployment
insurance benefits (which individ-
uals must have a significant work
history to receive), Social Security
survivor benefits for the children
and spouses of deceased workers,
and Social Security benefits for
retirees between ages 62 and 64.
Seven out of the 9 percentage
points go for one of these four pur-
poses.”
Contrary to public perception, it
is Whites who benefits dispropor-
tionately from entitlements.
“Also, contrary to what a sub-
stantial share of Americans may
assume, non-Hispanic whites
receive slightly more than their
proportionate share of entitlement
benefits,” the CBPP study found.
“Non-Hispanic whites accounted
for 64 percent of the population in
2010 and received 69 percent of
the entitlement benefits.”
George E. Curry, former editor-
in-chief of Emerge magazine, is
editor-in-chief of the National
Newspaper Publishers Associa-
tion News Service (NNPA.) He is a
keynote speaker, moderator, and
media coach.
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March 6, 2013 The Portland Skanner Page 5