You know why we call them entitlements? In most cases it's because people paid for them and they are entitled to get what they paid for.
Are you saying the government should cheat Americans out of the benefits they paid for?
People on Social Security and Medicare aren't acting entitled. They are entitled. People who don't understand that distinction are idiots.
Sure, not all benefits vilified as entitlements by the right are paid for. Help for kids, the disabled and the destitute, for example. We don't honor those claims because they paid for them. We honor them because we are a civilized nation.
Are you saying you don't want America to be a civilized nation?
Jump to conclusions much?
Yes, Americans were forced to pay into a SS retirement entitlement program with absolutely horrid ROI. And yes, they should receive a benefit from that. Unfortunately, there isn't enough money based on their contributions and the government's management of those contributions, so beneficiaries will need to either 1) wait longer to receive benefits, 2) receive lower benefits or 3) both.
We can be a civilized nation and still attempt to ween some the 10s of millions of people in the US off the government teat. And deploy programs intended to drive self-sufficiency and help people avoid the need for government assistance. And incentivize healthy behaviors to limit the burden on Medicare and Medicaid programs. And limit SNAP to only nutrient-dense foods (it's a nutrition program...). And on and on. We should aggressively pursue programs intended to shift people off of government assistance while still taking care of those who truly cannot take care of themselves.
A civilized nation is not defined by how well it enables dependence, but rather how it facilitates independence while simultaneously caring for those unable to care for themselves.
