Political Quotes

“this week we are taking up the budget. We are going to increase the limit on how deep this government can go into debt. Every year we spend more tax dollars and we add more government services, and my concern is that too many Americans are becoming too dependent on government. By the next election, this fall, a majority of Americans will be dependent on Federal Government for their health, their education, their income, or their retirement benefits. Some suggest that as many as 60 percent of households receive more than $10,000 a year from government in the form of retirement, health care, welfare or other benefits. At the same time, Mr. Speaker, the number of taxpayers paying for these benefits is rapidly shrinking. The question is, how well can any free nation survive when a majority of its citizens heavily dependent on government services no longer have the incentive to restrain the growth of government? As we all know, over the last 50 years, American attitudes have been shifting from cherishing self-sufficiency and personal responsibility to wanting a little more security from the Federal Government to assure them of a certain number of benefits. Government benefits, once concentrated on the needy, now extend into the middle and upper-middle class households, even as more and more Americans see their income tax liabilities decrease. Today, the majority of Americans can vote themselves more generous government benefits at little or no cost to themselves.”