Identifying the 47%

As a child I remember my parents taking me to the circus.  One of my favorite parts of the circus was the high wire and trapeze acts.  The danger involved with these performances gets our adrenalin going.  To mitigate the danger involved with these acts, the performers often use a safety net so that if they fall they will not be injured or killed and can then get back up and continue their performance. 

Life is like a high wire or trapeze act and comes with certain risks and danger.  To protect those who fall due to the circumstances of life, our country has developed a safety net.  We have unemployment for those who lose their job, food stamps so they can feed their families and disability for those disabled.  Like the safety net for a circus act, these programs assist those who fall victim to economic downturns or other circumstances of life that put them in danger but they were not intended to last forever. 

We now have people who fell into the safety net and decided to stay there.  They have had children who have never known anything other than living dependent on some form of government handout.  In 1996, Republicans in the House and Senate voted for and President Clinton signed legislation that changed the welfare program into a workfare program requiring individuals to look for work in order to continue receiving government checks.  The workfare program resulted in nearly 3 million families moving out of dependency on a government check and moving into self-sufficiency. (1)

A You Tube video recently surfaced where Mitt Romney is seen saying that there are 47% of the population that will vote for more government handouts and higher taxes on the rich.  Opponents of Romney have used this to try to prove their accusations that Romney and Republicans do not care for the poor and disadvantaged.  However, we found out later that part of the video is missing so we cannot be sure of the context of Romney’s comments.  (2) 

To determine the context of Romney’s remarks we must look at other comments and actions of Mitt Romney.  In Mitt Romney’s recently released tax returns, we see that he had income of $13,696,951 and paid taxes of $1,935,708.  Mitt and Ann Romney also gave $4,020,772 to charity.  We can tell a lot about someone from what we see on his or her tax return.  Romney’s tax return shows me that he is wealthy but it also shows someone who pays his taxes and is very charitable.  Based on what I see in the Romney’s tax return, I conclude that Mitt Romney was not calling for the elimination of the governmental safety net in his comments on the 47% but was expressing his desire to see people in the safety net come out of it. 

The government’s safety net not intended to be a hammock.  We need a thriving economy where people can find work and we need to educate second and third generations, raised in the safety net, that there is a better way to live.  People free to pursue their individual dreams and goals built the United States.  Unfortunately, for many, they have fallen prey to politicians with an agenda of creating a permanent dependency class.  It is time for us to break this cycle and empower these individuals to break free of dependency and begin pursuing their own dreams.  This is the most charitable and compassionate thing we can do for these people. 

1. Capara, Collette. How Welfare’s Work Requirements Make a Difference in Lives. blog.heritage.org. [Online] The Heritage Foundation, July 30, 2012. [Cited: September 22, 2012.] http://blog.heritage.org/2012/07/30/how-welfares-work-requirements-make-a-difference-in-lives/.

2. Morrissey, Ed. “Complete” video of Romney missing 1-2 minutes of remarks on the 47%. hotair.com. [Online] Hot Air, September 19, 2012. [Cited: September 22, 2012.] http://hotair.com/archives/2012/09/19/complete-video-of-romney-missing-1-2-minutes-of-remarks-on-the-47/.