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A Quiz on "Entitlement Programs"
How much do you know about US entitlement programs? Take our quiz.
In this June 19, 2012 photo, Dr. Bruce Stowell examines patient Robert Busch at his office in Grants Pass, Ore. Stowell is among many doctors in rural areas who have capped the numbers of Medicare patients they take due to low reimbursement levels. (Jeff Barnard/AP)
The push to reform entitlement programs is at the heart of debates about the future of the US budget. Many Republicans want big changes as Medicare and Medicaid, in particular, consume a larger share of federal spending. Most Democrats merely want to ensure the programs' survival.
Entitlement programs include Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment benefits, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (welfare). How much do you know about them?
Views: 43
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by LoveLife&Laughter on
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I just don't think SS, Medicare, or Unemployment are "Entitlements". They are social insurance programs that we paid for. And, I don't believe anyone is "Entitled" to the others, but they are a smart safety-net for those of us that are not millionaires and, that save tax payer dollars in the long run. They all may possibly save our ass from desperate people that may shoot our ass to feed their kids.
People get hungry. Just about every home in Central and South America have huge walls around them, and many have guards too. Hungry people can get desperate, and having your 2nd Amendment "Rights" gun is not going to protect you from planned surprise attacks.
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Permalink Reply by ProblemAgain on
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this is just a factbased quiz on funding and other real life facts about what are called entitlements. and i agree that it is a poor choice of terms tho people are 'entitled' to their social security and entitled to unemployment benefits because the unemployment insurance was paid when they were working because they have PAID in,they deserve the benefits much the same as you are entitled to compensation for damage to your house if you have paid for insurance or medical care if you have paid for medical insurance. unfortunately the term has been coopted by the far right to mean something entirely different. but take the test and you'll see facts about funding and who and in what region the entitlements are being utilized.
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Permalink Reply by exedir on
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Wait, this is a semantically debate, the entitlement is what the law provides, and it was the law that created the entitlement. If one wants to argue natural law, then, by nature we should all be lunch by now. This was the point of why the Danish zoo offered the euthanized giraffe steaks to the lions in front of children, an objective lesson of life in the wild, well, at least the wilds of Denmark.
As to the will of the people, sure, why not, one vote buying scheme is as good as another. But wait, that isn't what Social Security or Unemployment Insurance is all about, or at least not now, sorta.
If we wish to discuss entitlements and other governmental activity then we need to discuss the nature and extent of the social structure and the political compact of society. And yes, the depth and breadth is something a liberal would want to encourage and extend and a conservative would try to limit and otherwise terminate.
So, where does this leave us.
Well, we do have and social structure and a political compact that some would argue, with certainty and alarm does not go far enough, and other would say it goes too far. However, a great and large majority of people within the society would probably say, this is enough, or at least don't cut mine, that part that is in my self-interest. I certainly have put myself in that group, in that, like the Danish giraffe, I would have already been but an appetizer on the plate of natural progress....just saying.
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"entitlements" is a Frank Luntz, republican word with negative connotations meant to create a negative response from the public. It implies that those of us who get SS or Medicare somehow have done nothing to earn such benefits and it is yet another government boondoggle moving money from the rich to the poor.
I paid in all my life. Damn near 50 working years. I started working at about the time Medicare started. So the government helped me save for my older years. Now that I am near receiving SS and Medicare the rich are trying like hell to take it away.
They are not "entitlements". -
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Medicare and SS will always be front and center for Rs, and in a failure of framing, those programs will be generically labeled as "entitlements." For decades, these earned benefits have been mis-characterized It's long past time to call them what they actually are: Earned Benefits
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interesting that no one wants to take the test regarding actual facts of entitlement programs but without facts, what is the point of blathering on and on and on?
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Permalink Reply by redhand on
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Hey, PA, I took the test the other day when you posted it. Right now I can't remember exactly what I made on it, but I think it was about 25 per cent right. The main thing I remember is being surprised at how many people who made over $100,000 a year received some type of "entitlement".
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Once again the Republicans have framed the public debate.
"Entitlements"? What are entitlements? Being cared for when we are sick? Having enough money so we can eat and have shelter?
Entitlements suggests a spoiled child who can't control himself. Entitlements suggest indulgence. Entitlements are selfish, unreasonable and immoral.
When conservatives proudly crow about their ever-increasing budget cutting plans--$30 billion! No, $60 billion. No, $100 billion. No, that's not enough. $4 trillion. Picker. $6 trillion--they take on the mantel of the morally just.
With all due respect, bullshit!
The tax cuts for the rich have gotten us into this budgetary crisis. Tax policy that allows corporations like General Electric to pay no taxes have pushed us to the brink.
Read my lips. It's the revenue stream that has created the problem.
In the conservative dream-state, there is no EPA, no Department of Education, no rules and regulations protecting the environment and consumers.
An unfettered free market gives us heaven on earth.
The 2012 proposed Republican budget argues that if less money is available for health care, then the market will create competition which will drive down costs. Funny, that hasn't worked so well now. Ask anyone who buys health care insurance on the open market.
When Obama was forced to accept the renewal of the tax cuts for the rich, the Republicans had a win-win. They paid off their wealthy supporters with the lowest tax rates in 50 yearsand they added to the national debt, giving them their hobby-horse issue that we see them riding madly now.
Hey, Democrats, let's get real, time for a little framing-the-public-debate ourselves. The "entitlements" are the tax cuts for the rich and tax loop holes for corporations.
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Hey, welcome to it be they liberals, conservatives and independents off whatever stripe...
That is what our democracy is suppose to be about, issues, debates and discussions...and then we vote...or should if that is how we feel enough about. And sure, why not on this form and others.
What we have here is the question(s) that will be what the election of 2014 will be about. Oh, wait, that is, should be about, but then that is all heavy lifting...and better to let the media and who ever is paying for these campaigns tell the potential voters what they should know and consider, and then, as duly empowered and informed Americans, go to the polls and vote to save democracy as we know it, or something like that.
And clearly, we have to recognize our voices, however, the voices on this thread will not be the ones heard, and maybe rightly so, but and it is a big BUT, how can any of this be decided? Well, it will be in 2014, 2016 and as long as the republic lasts.
As Franklin was quoted, when asked as to the result of the Constitutional Convention as to the type of government they had created..."A Republic, if you can keep it".
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Why is it that the GOP always has to use deceptive propaganda / advertising to deceive the public about their "policy"? Is it that they certainly can't tell the truth, can they? But, what can we expect from a party that has to "fix" the vote in order to win ...
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But then again l3, how do you feel about it.
And yes, it is really, really sh..y that it all about money, the mother's milk off(yes, my f key sticks) and I don't always catch it.
The president spent three hours in the Central Valley feeling our pain about the drought and that money was coming our way, more or less, from the Ag Bill that was just past...and a $1T remediation fund that will never happen to do...well, nothing...for most of the water demands and needs in the Valley...and so, the president got on his plane with entourage and fly some 300 miles or less to Palm Springs,,to met with Jordan King Abdullah and play some golf on Saturday and Sunday with potential democrat campaign donors.
And yes, all in a day's work in our modern Republic, left and right, as the people's business is, as always, up for bids...just saying...
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After checking on who voted in 2008 and 2012, some republican campaign donors potentially may join the President and the King also.
(snort:)
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