[quote=felix]
We are all paying for those who don’t take personal responsibility for their lives.
[/quote]

I disagree. The main expenses are the massive bailout of the super-rich and the Iraq War.

Unemployment and welfare makes up at most 11% of the national budget:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Fy2008spendingbycategory.png

The FY2008 budget is $2.9 trillion. That means that at most $319 billion per year is going to those folks who “don’t take personal responsibility for their lives”.

$319 billion pales in comparison to the $11 trillion bailout of the super-rich. $11 trillion is 34 years of welfare spending.

Then there is the boondoggle of the Iraq War which could end up costing $3 trillion:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0310/p16s01-wmgn.html

The Iraq War is costing us 10x as much as a year of welfare. Adding the $11 trillion bailout of the super-rich and the Iraq War brings the total to 44 years of welfare spending.

So what we are really paying for is a misguided war and a massive bailout for the super-rich. Welfare for poor people is teeny-tiny in comparison.

This is what annoys me about faux conservatives/capitalists like you. You constantly bemoan the cost of welfare when what is really dragging our economy down are the crooks on Wall Street and the Iraq War.

If you are truly concerned about welfare spending, then you should be 44 times as concerned about the bailout and the Iraq War. And yet, faux conservatives/capitalists like you never bring those expenses up. I find that to be incredibly hypocritical and will vote to raise your taxes at every chance I get.