General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Chris Murphy: Yes, McMahon Does Agree With 47 Percent Remark [View all]freshwest
(53,661 posts)That is the Libertarian Party platform, that they can survive on charity, and the government must go away. Not only that, but Social Security must go away, which is what is keeping millions of people right now from being hungry and homeless...
We are talking about well over a hundred million people getting the essentials of life right now. Not everyone needs these long-term:
In 2012, over 56 million Americans will receive $778 billion in Social Security benefits.
http://www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/basicfact.htm
Medicaid is the nations largest health program in terms of number of recipients, serving 56 million to Medicares 48 million.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/medicaid/index.html
More than a third of Americans lived in households receiving government assistance in 2010.
http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/07/news/economy/government_assistance/index.htm
More than 46.6 Million Americans Participated in SNAP in June 2012
http://frac.org/reports-and-resources/snapfood-stamp-monthly-participation-data/
The Libertarian Party Platform on Welfare:
http://www.lp.org/issues/poverty-and-welfare
The Libertarian Party Platform on Health care:
http://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/Libertarian_Party_Health_Care.htm
More Libertarian, Ron Paul, Tea Bagger ideas that Democrats do not believe in:
Libertarians believe that taxes should be abolished along with all the programs and departments that taxes fund. Libertarians dont believe in Medicare. Libertarians dont believe in Social Security. Libertarians dont believe that there should be fire departments, police departments, public transportation, grants for education, unemployment, disability, food stamps, and every other type of government system and assistance that you can think of.
Libertarians wish to eliminate taxes in order to eliminate all of the above programs and more. Libertarians believe that without these taxes, individuals will have more money in their pockets and will be able to afford all of these things. If someone is unable to provide themselves or their family with school, health care, or food, people need to rely on family members, church, or a private charity.
Libertarians believe that governments role in the market should be to protect property owners rights. There should be no FDA, equal employment opportunities, unions, minimum wage, payroll taxes, safe food handling requirements, consumer protections, regulations that protect against financial conflicts of interest and fraud, and business licenses.
Libertarians believe that business owners should have the right to deny entry to minorities and/or women and/or people with disabilities, if that is how business owners wish to run their businesses.
http://deni-edwards.hubpages.com/hub/Defining-a-Libertarian-Ron-Pauls-Political-Platform
Social Security and Medicaid keeps millions of people the Romneys will never meet, and have no idea exist, off the streets. They disapprove of those who are doing the work to keep them alive and well, because it's a 'statist' thing, not ideologically pure, easy for them.
Democrats are and will continue to help many more people than private groups ever will. The GOP who are Libertarians, plan to end all government so there will no votes needed, just be connected to the biggest boss you can find.
Here's another link:
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/02/federal-benefits-able-bodied-workers