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Tax Dollars and Public Entitlement Programs

             Johnson launched the "War on Poverty" in the 1960s, he stated that it would strike "at the causes, not just the consequences of poverty," and also said that the goal "is not only to relieve the symptom of poverty, but to cure it and, above all, to prevent it." (The War on Poverty After 50 Years, heritage.org), When looking at the public entitlement programs enacted by the United States government, it is very difficult to gauge any relative success in relation to the program's intended goals. Over 50 years has passed since the inception of these programs and poverty as well as its consequences are still very much an issue here in America. However, the idea or theory of public entitlement is not the reason for the failure of these programs, instead, it was decades of poor government policies that led to the demise of entitlement programs. The United States government has allowed entitlement programs to balloon to an exorbitant amount and they are becoming increasingly more expensive to maintain. There are roughly "80 federally mandated entitlement programs costing the United Sates government $2.34 trillion a year" (Analytical Perspectives, whitehouse.gov). Poor government policies have caused rampant abuse and fraud within the programs which has minimized the program's effectiveness towards its initial goal. In 2013, it was estimated that "49% of American households received benefits through these programs" (10 Truths About America's Entitlement Programs, uschamber.com). In addition, entitlement programs, as they are currently designed, are unsustainable. "Not a single major entitlement program is projected to be financially solvent 20 years from now" and "the cost to make these programs financially solvent for the next 75 years is almost $40 trillion." (10 Truths About America's Entitlement Programs, uschamber.com) Entitlement programs have grown to become expensive, ineffective, and unsustainable, thus these programs, in their current form, do not maximize the aggregate utility of tax dollars; tax dollars are being wasted.


Essays Related to Tax Dollars and Public Entitlement Programs

1. Liberals versus Conservatives

These differences are most clearly demonstrated by their views on issues such as education, taxes, public health care, the environment, and national defense. Conservatives and liberals disagree about where education dollars should be spent. ... Liberals seem to believe that taxes are a federal entitlement. ... Coupled with high taxes on the wealthy, they believe that tax money should be spent by the government on large government programs that provide services to people instead of by the taxpayers themselves. ... Liberals think it is the government's responsibility to provide lifetime h...

  • Word Count: 1153
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. Providing Universal Healthcare

She further claims that it fails to lower costs or provide any real solutions to the trillions of dollars in red ink facing existing entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. ... A government subsidized program similar to Medicare would provide the funds. This would eliminate the need for unnecessary public programs. ... Clemmitt says that the health care reform law "fails to lower costs or provide any real solutions to the trillions of dollars in red ink facing existing entitlement programs.... One way of raising the money could include payroll taxes, a tax on businesses, or...

  • Word Count: 1064
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

3. Providing Universal Healthcare

She further claims that it fails to lower costs or provide any real solutions to the trillions of dollars in red ink facing existing entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. ... A government subsidized program similar to Medicare would provide the funds. This would eliminate the need for unnecessary public programs. ... Clemmitt says that the health care reform law "fails to lower costs or provide any real solutions to the trillions of dollars in red ink facing existing entitlement programs.... One way of raising the money could include payroll taxes, a tax on businesses, or...

  • Word Count: 1064
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. Anti Vouchers

On April 30, 1998, a policy document entitled "A Nation Still At Risk" was released. ... What a voucher does is taken the amount of tax dollars already collected to use on public education and instead give it to parents. ... According to research, only three public voucher programs exist, and they are all authorized by state legislatures (Schneider 186). ... Furthermore, if large numbers of students enroll in voucher programs, public schools will actually have more money for pupil, not less. According to study, in Cleveland, public schools spend about 8000 dollars per pupil annually, while ...

  • Word Count: 1251
  • Approx Pages: 5

5. Balanced Budget

A balanced budget would benefit the United States by providing extra funds for social programs, tax cuts, and reducing the national debt. ... Currently, the Federal deficit is over five trillion dollars, and that divided out among the U.S. population equals over nineteen thousand dollars per person. ... "Today, the government must spend 40 cents of every personal income tax dollar to pay interest on the national debt" (Ginsburgh 1). ... People are living longer, putting an even larger burden on the entitlements. ... With taxes already this high, the government ought to try to lower the tax bur...

  • Word Count: 1856
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: High School

6. The Global Problem of Tax Evasion

Tax fraud can be an individual or corporation failing to report income made, claiming credits or exemptions they are not entitled to, hiding money in offshore accounts, etcetera. ... All countries have a net tax gap however some countries choose not to publicly announce it. Many countries choose to not publicly announce their net tax gap. ... Tax fraud prevents countries from surviving recessions, create a loss of public service budget, create a loss of infrastructure, impact citizens and undermine both democracy and capitalism. ... Taxes and Public Services In 2011 the UK estimated that the ...

  • Word Count: 5950
  • Approx Pages: 24
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

7. The Global Problem of Tax Evasion

Tax fraud can be an individual or corporation failing to report income made, claiming credits or exemptions they are not entitled to, hiding money in offshore accounts, etcetera. ... All countries have a net tax gap however some countries choose not to publicly announce it. Many countries choose to not publicly announce their net tax gap. ... Tax fraud prevents countries from surviving recessions, create a loss of public service budget, create a loss of infrastructure, impact citizens and undermine both democracy and capitalism. ... Taxes and Public Services In 2011 the UK estimated that the ...

  • Word Count: 5950
  • Approx Pages: 24
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

8. Compare/contrast

These differences are most clearly demonstrated by their views on issues such as education, taxes, public health care, the environment, and national defense. Conservatives and liberals disagree about where education dollars should be spent. ... Liberals seem to believe that taxes are a federal entitlement. ... They believe that tax money should be spent by the government on large government programs that provide services to people instead of by the taxpayers themselves. ... They believe this should be provided by government regulated HMO organizations funded by tax dollars. ...

  • Word Count: 1015
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography

9. Government Spending & Budget

Clintons plan also saved dollars for education and did not include a tax increase, but most cuts would not take effect until he is out of office, in the year 2001. ... This budget called for major cuts in education, environmental programs, discretionary spending, and the largest of all: entitlements. 70% of the money to balance the budget under the GOP plan would have come from entitlements. This is because entitlement programs currently take up $301 billion a year. ... Smaller cuts included $11 billion in student loan reductions, $9.3 billion in labor cuts, $10 billion eliminate...

  • Word Count: 2844
  • Approx Pages: 11
  • Grade Level: High School

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