"96 Percent of People Have Received Some Government Assistance"

[applegrove]

96 Percent of People Have Received Some Government Assistance

By Annie-Rose Strasser, ThinkProgress (at TruthOut)

http://truth-out.org/news/item/11775-96-percent-of-people-have-received-some-government-assistance

"SNIP........................................

Mitt Romney got himself in trouble when he wrote off 47 percent of Americans who “are dependent upon government.” But he also got his math wrong.

It turns out that 96 percent of Americans have used government assistance at one point or another in their lives, ranging from Social Security to grant programs. In a New York Times op-ed Monday, Professors Suzanne Mettler and John Sides point out that a vast majority of Americans have some tie to the government and that, in 2008, 96 percent of people used government help. The data comes from a 2008 Cornell study of 21 social programs:

The survey asked about people’s policy usage throughout their lives, not just at a moment in time, and it included questions about social policies embedded in the tax code, which are usually overlooked.

What the data reveal is striking: nearly all Americans — 96 percent — have relied on the federal government to assist them. Young adults, who are not yet eligible for many policies, account for most of the remaining 4 percent.

........................................SNIP"

[johnnyrocket]

1. But according to the Tea Party types, the blacks and hispanics don't deserve government help.

... just because.