Report: Government dependency jumps 25 percent since 2005

by admin on February 9, 2012 ·

The American public’s dependency on government programs jumped almost 25 percent since 2005, according to a study released Wednesday by The Heritage Foundation, which found that roughly 67 million Americans now depend on government programs.

Current policies that measure entitlement eligibility are flawed and have created a fiscal nightmare, according to the report.

The Heritage Foundation found that dependence on the government grew steadily since 1962, when its dependency index stood at 19. By 1980, the index rose to 100, and it grew to 294 in 2010.

The rate of government dependency growth under Obama has been comparable to Jimmy Carter’s presidency, according to the report. Increases in housing subsidies, an expansion in Medicaid, changes to the welfare system, and a sudden rise in food stamp issuance have been the main contributors to dependency growth.

As “baby boomers” age and become eligible for Social Security and Medicare, government expenditures will balloon, the report finds, with the programs going from 42 percent of non-interest federal spending now to around 62 percent of spending in two decades.

This article was written by Adam Jablonowski for the Daily Caller; full article at the Dailer Caller …