"We don't want your stinking government help. (But we need it.)"

Ki Gulbranson is famous today.  He probably wishes he wasn't.  He probably wishes he'd kept his mouth shut, but instead he told a NYTimes reporter that "too many Americans lean on taxpayers rather than living within their means." He said he supports politicians who promise to cut government spending.  He also said that he makes about $39,000 a year "and wants you to know that he does not need any help from the federal government." 

He also supports Tea Party candidates.  So this Gulbranson is one of those rugged individuals who wouldn't take a dime from the damn government even if they tried to force him to, right?   Weeeeeell... not exactly.  He actually accepts Earned Income Credit payouts from the government and has signed up three of his kids to get free breakfast and lunches at school.  Also, Medicare has paid for his mother to have two hip replacements!

This is all part of an in-depth NYTimes article that is worth reading.  It makes Ki Gulbranson look like a hypocrite, but really, he's just a hard-working American who doesn't make enough to support his family without some government help.  I doubt he realized just how much government help he gets until the Times reporter started asking embarrassing questions.

The bottom line is this, the average American worker has seen his and her inflation adjusted income decline for more than three decades, and they need help.  Most of them who rail against government giving so much of their tax dollars to so many people believe THEY have earned the help they get from the government because they are hardworking, responsible, white Americans, but they consider any money that goes to black and brown folks to be excessive because it is assumed they are lazy wastrels who live large on working American's taxes.

The graphs in the article are startling and in my opinion require further explanation because I suspect they include payments to disabled service members, and given that we've been fighting two deadly wars for a decade that should not come as a surprise.

So, what do we do about this?  If we refuse to make the very wealthy pay more in taxes the only alternative is to raise the rest of our taxes and/or further cut the safety net, which will destroy our poor and our middle class.

--Trakker

Comments

[Ted McG]

How about taking back some of the guvmint giveaway to outfits like Solyndra who have taken trillions of "investments" from the tax payer, stuck it in their pocket and declared bankruptcy. Quit wasting the money on topics better left to US innovators uncontroled by the little o's command and control.
Ki is an example of the left's creations. Without all of the "we know better than you" views from the dims, folks like this would be making more because their employers wouldn't have to spend so much to meet guvmint requirements.