>As for how to define "reasonable," we vote. If we don't like the way the current government defines it, we have the right and the ability to turn that government out and vote in a new one. In your Czech example, those people didn't have that right. Huge difference.
>
>The problem with this is that when a majority of the voters are on some sort of government assistance the vote is rigged.

Since that's not actually the case, not an issue. From http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/09/18/who-receives-benefits-from-the-federal-government-in-six-charts/:

1) Starting with the most nitpicky point, "In 2011, about 49 percent of the population lived in a household where at least one member received a direct benefit from the federal government." Last I looked, 49% is not a majority.

2) Reading on, those numbers include Medicare and Social Security. Surely, you're not counting those programs into which people pay over a lifetime and receive benefits in old age as "government assistance," right?

3) When we start looking at actual assistance, " about 32 million households, or 27.1 percent, benefited from at least one means-tested poverty program. The biggest benefits here were Medicaid (19.5 percent), food stamps (12.7 percent) and subsidized lunches (11.2 percent). Again, there's some overlap." and "Smaller benefits include public housing (5 percent of households), unemployment (4 percent), and veterans' compensation (2.6 percent). Only 7 percent of households receive some sort of direct cash assistance, such as the TANF welfare program."

4) So here's one in your favor: "In 2010, according to one analysis, 60 percent of Americans were receiving more in government benefits than they paid in taxes." But continuing to read: "However, many Americans who receive government benefits in one year go on to pay more taxes in subsequent years. " So helping people one year results in getting them back on their feet, so they can contribute in future years.

There's more in there. What's not in that article and I'm not sure how to search for is what percent of eligible voters receive benefits (since that's who you made your assertion about). After all, many benefit programs, like school lunches and WIC, are primarily for kids.

FWIW, it's a short article and worth reading the whole thing.

Tamar