Dependency, Government and Democracy
The mainstream media is all atwitter over the story of GOP candidate Mitt Romney’s reported statement at a May 17 fundraiser that President Obama’s supporters “constitute the ‘47 percent” of the nation who are “dependent upon the government, who believe that they are victims,’” as noted in this Washington Post story. However, as Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) editorializes today:
“No doubt there are people who are dependent on government due to circumstances beyond their control. But it's been a main thrust of this administration to make as many people dependent on government as possible — witness ObamaCare — and its motives haven't always been pure.
“This is the administration from which comes a steady drumbeat of class warfare, that rails against the evil "1%" while seeking to redistribute their wealth, that supports the mob action of Occupy Wall Street, attacks those preaching personal responsibility as asking people to "fend for themselves" and tells the people who roll up their sleeves rather than hold out their hands, well, "you didn't build that."
IBD provides the following chart showing that dependency is a “U.S. growth industry" by including the following graphic with their editorial:
The IBD editorial concludes by saying:
“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money," Alexis de Tocqueville once wrote about America. Mitt Romney is merely warning us that day may soon be at hand.”
For more background information about government dependency, see these recent posts at the Heritage Foundation’s blog, The Foundry -- here, here, and here. In addition, here is Heritage's infographic, published yesterday, showing that dependence on government is higher than ever:
