>>Who gets to decide/determine what constitutes the "extent" of social spending shortfalls? What is ludicrous is basing these figures on gov't social spending without taking into account private charities that are WAY more efficient than gov't will ever be. Throw private sector charitable donations into the equation, and I dare say no other country is more charitable than the U.S., even when it comes to helping countries that despise us.
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>>Do you actually think slashing the U.S. military budget would result in a correlating increase in social spending? I certainly hope not. Our budget must be slashed in all areas (including military), some more than others, and some downright eliminated (subsidies of any kind and the Dept of Education comes to mind). You do not have the right to a gov't subsidy if you choose a job/career that will not support your lifestyle.
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>>No where in our rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of hapiness" does it say "entitlement." Conversely, I have every right to expect gov't not to be an impediment to such rights -- e.g., taxes (especially capital gains, marriage & death taxes), spiralling budget deficits, national debt, corruption, self-serving politicians, lawyers, activist judges, illegal immigration etc.
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>Wow, you're on a roll! Stand back, folks!
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>It sounds like your idea of a perfect system is one where you keep every nickel you earn and contribute nothing financially to the society you live in. Yup, that sounds real workable. How do roads get built in that system? All interested volunteers show up on Saturday morning and go to it? Unpaid, of course, since there would be no money to pay for it. Bring your own hard hat, bring your own bag of cement.
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>"Every man for himself" is not a recipe for a civilized society.

Not even close, but since you have virtually fallen overboard, here is a virtual life-saver.

By "taxes" I mean to say an honerous tax system and taxes that are way too high expecially when you consider the sum total of the amount of taxes paid (Federal, State - if any, not in Texas though, county, city, sales, property, school, etc), about 40% of my earnings are confiscated by some gov't entity. THAT IS INSANE! 100% of the taxes I pay for vehicle registration and on every gallon of gasoline should be going to maintain our ground transportation infrastructure including the construction of roads. That is a justifiable tax if it were only used that way.

However, there is no way the creators of Sesame Street should keep all their profits while our tax dollars (and private donations) go to support PBS.

How well has more than 1-Trillion $$$ in taxpayer funds worked during the 60s through whenever with respect to public housing? A colossal failure. How well did the old welfare system work? Another colossal failure. It forced single-parenthood (and usually unemployment for the care-giving parent) to qualify for assistance. That guaranteed that the vicious cycle of impoverishment could not be easily broken.