Even before the Obamanation descended upon this land, I recall reading a study that showed a family of 4 making less than $24,000 per year (or something in that range) actually had more disposable income at the end of the month than another family of 4 making $60,000 per year. The sole difference was that the $24k family qualified for all the different welfare, food stamp, housing and utility subsidies, and other "public assistance" programs.
I also read another study that showed that we could literally give $40,000 per year to everyone under the poverty line and it would be less than what we currently spend on the welfare state. Of course, rather than view that as an indictment of the welfare state, people like Jesse Jackson Jr. thought it was evidence that that's exactly what we should be doing...giving people $40,000 per year stipends. At least Junior has somewhat of an excuse: he's insane.
