So many people are fed up with our government entitlements.  At least that is what most say to me when we discuss various policies of the federal government.  I am also very fed up with some of them and wish I could do something to get rid of them.  Maybe this is an impossibility since many have been around for so long.  But I definitely think it’s something the voters should start questioning.

What do entitlements mean?  Oxford dictionary defines it as “the fact of having a right to something” or “the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment.”  To me, it is an entitlement if you have not done anything, whether labor or other contribution, to deserve the handout you are getting.  Of course, there are qualifications to this statement which we will discuss later.  One good example of the latter definition mentioned concerns the energy companies.

Take the U.S. Energy Information Administration (eia.gov) reporting that in fiscal year 2022, our government gave/allowed American companies involved in energy $22.7 billion in subsidies of various types. Tax, fuel, and other types of credits.  For the purposes of exploration and development, allowing amortization of all geological and geophysical expenditures, or when decommissioning nuclear facilities, to name a few.  Even the Yale Environment 360 Digest (E360.yale.edu), published by the Yale School of the Environment, said that in the year 2020, fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) received $5.9 trillion in subsidies on the world stage.  Why do we allow this?  Are these companies going bankrupt any minute now?  Walking on thin ice?

Another similar example of special treatment are the tax cuts made during 2017 by the Trump administration.  According to the Tax Policy Center (taxpolicycenter.org) a research center on federal tax issues, “Households with incomes in the top one percent will receive an average tax cut of more than $60,000 in 2025, compared to an average tax cut of less than $500 for households in the bottom 60 percent.”  Since 2017, my tax bills have not reflected much of any tax break for me.  How about you?

I have always heard that when you give companies and their high-earning executives tax breaks, it will reflect in job growth and wages.  I have never witnessed this.  This thought process is part of trickle-down economics defined in the Reagan administration.  Has your cup been under the trickle enough in the past 40 years to fill it?  Has most of it evaporated away?  Have you gotten enough yet to live on?  It appears that we have gotten more from the increases in wages in the past few years than that which has trickled into our cups in 40 years.

I could go on and on about government subsidies (includes tax breaks) but the United States loves to subsidize big businesses.  And, of course, this is not limited to a given political party.  Both parties can claim that they have passed these subsidies.  Most likely, but I have no proof, most countries subsidize big business.  Is this the requirement of government?  Should we instead get rid of lobbyists in Washington?  Should we go back to limiting, or eliminating, big money in our campaigns?  So much to be done.

We’ve been talking about corporate subsidies so now it’s time to talk about those that are part of programs to the general public.  You and I, and the ones that upset us almost daily it seems.  SNAP (food subsidies), unemployment benefits, child tax credits, stimulus checks, inflation relief checks, social security and Medicare to name a few.  The last two mentioned in addition to the Medicaid program are the largest portion of the total entitlements paid out in the year 2022 amounting to 46 percent of the total budget.  But, in my book, these are only entitlements because of how they are paid for and required to be distributed.

You can find this information under the article “Where Does All the Money Go? - Federal Budget in Pictures” at the web site (federalbudgetinpictures.com/where-does-all-the-money-go).  Although the information includes the sentence “Soon, this spending will be larger than the portion of spending for all other priorities (such as national defense) combined.”, there is no mention of what’s paid in.  These dollars are not coming from the general taxes paid by all of us, (except, maybe not so much the rich), they are coming from specific dollars paid by us through our paychecks over the years while we were working.

Yes, these are taxes to be sure, but are held in a government program that requires a person to pay into, but at retirement are paid back most or more than they paid in.  The rest of the true entitlement programs SNAP, unemployment benefits, and the others are paid from the government’s general fund.  Our general tax payments.  Yes, these amount to large dollars all together, but compared to what we “give” to corporations and the rich through subsidies and tax breaks, we might be getting upset about the wrong thing.

When I see people actively spending SNAP or other government program dollars in gas stations, expensive stores, or even at grocery stores on high-priced purchases, I get terribly upset.  Generally, not on what they are getting in handouts since I do not know anything about their circumstance, but instead about their spending habits and choices.  I also get upset about the restrictions that may, or may not, be part of the program.

Yes, we all receive diverse types of entitlements, but it is all part of living our lives the best we can.  We all need roads, bridges, fire departments, police departments, and retirement income as we get older.  And yes, we are allowed to have other breaks because we are down on our luck or just trying to live with jobs that don’t pay as they should or just trying to make sure all of our family members get good nourishment.  Either way, we are all just trying to be good citizens and carry our weight.  At least I hope so.