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2,362 millionaries collected roughly $20.8 million in unemployment insurance.
Roughly 60,000 enrollees in the Medicare Part B program reported incomes exceeding $1 million.
38,217 individuals earning $1 million or more received $1.1 billion in Social Security benefits,
The rich continue to get richer; as for the rest of us…
bY Douglas C. Lyons
"Americans
are facing tough times," the report begins, picking up speed with short
sentences describing millions of individuals being out of work, wages
stuck on stagnant while college tuitions, health-care costs and other
household expenses continue to rise.
"The government safety net
has been cast far and wide, with almost half of all American households
now receiving some form of government assistance," the text continues.
"But most taxpayers will be asking why, when they learn who is receiving
what. From tax write-offs for gambling losses, vacation homes and
luxury yachts to subsidies for their ranches and estates, the government
is subsidizing the lifestyles of the rich and famous."
The report
goes on to describe millionaires who, quite legally, are being helped
by our federal government's social safety net. $9 billion in retirement
checks, $316 million in farm subsidies, $74 million in unemployment
checks and $7.5 million to compensate for property damage that should
have been insured — add it all up and pretty soon you're talking real
money.
"Americans are generous and do not want to see their fellow
citizens go without basic necessities," the report concludes. "Likewise
we expect everyone to contribute and to demonstrate personal
responsibility. Government policies intended to mainstream wealth
redistribution are undermining these principles."
If you think I'm
quoting from any of the stereotypical class warfare gladiators, like
Michael Moore, The New York Times or MoveOn.org., think again. The
champion who unveiled the "Subsidies of the Rich and Famous" report this
week was none other than Tom A. Coburn, M.D., and Republican U.S.
senator from Oklahoma.
I don't use the word "champion" lightly.
Coburn's decision to release this report and knock the rich amounts to a
poltical profile in courage. He doesn't want to demonize the rich, but
he doesn't want to pamper them with unnecessary welfare, either. It
certainly runs counter to conventional wisdom that Republicans bend over
backwards to favor the very well off.
The senator's street-cred
as a fiscal and social conservative is unshakeable. His ability, though,
to stomach the very big problems with government spending and
Washington's stubborn unwillingness to do much about it has made him,
well, a bit unhinged. Given the findings, who can blame him?
Take unemployment insurance, which helps the unemployed get by between jobs. In 2009, the IRS reported that 2,362 millionaries collected roughly $20.8 million in unemployment insurance. This spring, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved an amendment to end
unemployment benefits to those earning $1 million or more, but senators
failed to pass the bill containing the amendment.
College costs
have gone up — 130 percent over the past 20 years at public universities
alone. Since income isn't a fact in determining student aid
eligibility, millionaires received $16.4 million worth of
federal student loans over the past four years. The average amount
loaned to millionaires — $19,405.
FEMA, the agency made famous by Hurricane Katrina, paid $7.5 million in disaster assistance to millionaires over a four-year period. Millionaires
also deducted $20 billion in gambling losses over the past four years,
and they heated their homes with money from the federal Low Income Home
Energy Assistance Program.
Of course the significant numbers are in the really big programs — Social Security and Medicaire. In 2009, 38,217 individuals earning $1 million or more received $1.1 billion in Social Security benefits, according to the IRS. Roughly 60,000 enrollees in the Medicare Part B program reported incomes exceeding $1 million.
Coburn recommends ending the safety net for millionaries, which makes sense giving our national $15 trillion debt.
Still,
Washington will be a hard sell, and the public can be forgiven for
being skeptical since everyone knows that the rich get richer while the
rest get reamed.
Douglas C. Lyons On Twitters@douglinflorida.
