Essay on Government Spending
Fall
12
Fall
12
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
08
Fall
08
Fall
Essay #3
Nguyen Bui
A HTG 100, # 103
Essay #3
Nguyen Bui
A HTG 100, # 103
People should be treated indifferently regardless of their wealth and social standings. Yet, in reality, societies have experienced economical inequalities due to pay scales, tax brackets, and education level. A research study on 23 developed countries and 50 states of the US has shown that countries with higher degree of inequality tend to have higher rates of health, social problems and lower rates of social welfare. To resolve such inequality, the U.S government has consistently intervened by alleviating poverty and redistributing income in different forms of transfer payments such as welfare, Medicare, Social Security and employer-provided health insurance. Despite the good intentions, these programs, which involved large spending, haven’t been entirely effective in helping the poor. Therefore, even though the poor might suffer from an extensive economic inequality, the government cannot intervene by levying these transfer payments to focus on the equal outcome rather than personal freedom.
Many studies have shown that transfer payments didn’t help to redistribute income. According to Dwight R. Lee, only 25% of $500 billion spent yearly on public assistance and social insurance programs were distributed through Medicaid, food stamps, Social Security, etc and 75% were allocated regardless of need. This suggests that a large portion of financial aid from the government went to those who were not in need. These programs were therefore proven ineffective since their means were to help the poor but the poor didn’t actually receive the exact benefits the taxpayers gave up. One of the reasons was that these transfer payments’ policy wasn’t specific enough, so their main purpose of feeding only the poor hasn’t been accomplished. In addition, when taxpayers were taken money away to help the
12
Fall
12
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
08
Fall
08
Fall
Essay #3
Nguyen Bui
A HTG 100, # 103
Essay #3
Nguyen Bui
A HTG 100, # 103
People should be treated indifferently regardless of their wealth and social standings. Yet, in reality, societies have experienced economical inequalities due to pay scales, tax brackets, and education level. A research study on 23 developed countries and 50 states of the US has shown that countries with higher degree of inequality tend to have higher rates of health, social problems and lower rates of social welfare. To resolve such inequality, the U.S government has consistently intervened by alleviating poverty and redistributing income in different forms of transfer payments such as welfare, Medicare, Social Security and employer-provided health insurance. Despite the good intentions, these programs, which involved large spending, haven’t been entirely effective in helping the poor. Therefore, even though the poor might suffer from an extensive economic inequality, the government cannot intervene by levying these transfer payments to focus on the equal outcome rather than personal freedom.
Many studies have shown that transfer payments didn’t help to redistribute income. According to Dwight R. Lee, only 25% of $500 billion spent yearly on public assistance and social insurance programs were distributed through Medicaid, food stamps, Social Security, etc and 75% were allocated regardless of need. This suggests that a large portion of financial aid from the government went to those who were not in need. These programs were therefore proven ineffective since their means were to help the poor but the poor didn’t actually receive the exact benefits the taxpayers gave up. One of the reasons was that these transfer payments’ policy wasn’t specific enough, so their main purpose of feeding only the poor hasn’t been accomplished. In addition, when taxpayers were taken money away to help the