Three years ago, I shared a chart about the fiscal burden of the welfare state, calling it the picture that says a thousand word.
It’s astounding, after all, that taxpayers spend so much money on means-tested programs and get such miserable results.
Indeed, if we took all the money spent on various welfare programs and added it up, it would amount to $60,000 for every poor household.
Yet the handouts for poor people generally (but not always) are way below that level, so where does all the money go?
Well, this eye-popping flowchart (click to enlarge) from the House Ways & Means Committee is one way of answering that question. As you can see, there are dozens of programs spread across several agencies and departments.
In other words, a huge chunk of anti-poverty spending gets absorbed by a bloated, jumbled, and overlapping bureaucracy (and this doesn’t even count the various bureaucracies in each state that also administer all these welfare programs).
This is akin to a spider web of dependency. No wonder people get trapped in poverty.
Fortunately, we have a very simple solution to this mess. Just get the federal government out of the business of redistributing income. We already got very good results by reforming one welfare program in the 1990s. So let’s build on that success.
P.S. Leftists generally will oppose good reforms, both because of their ideological belief in redistribution and also because overpaid bureaucrats (who would have to find honest work if we had real change) are a major part of their coalition. But there are some honest statists who admit the current system hurts poor people.
[…] but not for the right reasons. And my little example doesn’t include the value of any of the dozens of other redistribution programs in […]
[…] but not for the right reasons. And my little example doesn’t include the value of any of the dozens of other redistribution programs in […]
[…] but not for the right reasons. And my little example doesn’t include the value of any of the dozens of other redistribution programs in […]
[…] but not for the right reasons. And my little example doesn’t include the value of any of the dozens of other redistribution programs in […]
[…] but not for the right reasons. And my little example doesn’t include the value of any of the dozens of other redistribution programs in […]
[…] but not for the right reasons. And my little example doesn’t include the value of any of the dozens of other redistribution programs in […]
[…] but not for the right reasons. And my little example doesn’t include the value of any of the dozens of other redistribution programs in […]
[…] step would dramatically shrink the federal government. No Department of Education., No welfare state. No Department of Agriculture. No redistribution. No Department of Housing and […]
[…] one step would dramatically shrink the federal government. No Department of Education., No welfare state. No Department of Agriculture. No redistribution. No Department of Housing and Urban […]
[…] instance, I don’t like America’s welfare state, which redistributes from the rich to the […]
[…] welfare state and the so-called war on poverty has been very bad news for […]
[…] welfare state and the so-called war on poverty has been very bad news for […]
[…] welfare state and the so-called war on poverty has been very bad news for […]
[…] but not for the right reasons. And my little example doesn’t include the value of any of the dozens of other redistribution programs in […]
[…] welfare state and the so-called war on poverty has been very bad news for […]
[…] welfare state and the so-called war on poverty has been very bad news for […]
[…] what it’s worth, I’m not quite as positive about the United States as Henninger. Our welfare state is a significant burden, though he is right that it is smaller than the welfare states in […]
[…] what it’s worth, I’m not quite as positive about the United States as Henninger. Our welfare state is a significant burden, though he is right that it is smaller than the welfare states in […]
[…] I’ve made the case for capitalism (Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, and Part V) and the case against socialism (Part I, Part II, and Part III), while also noting that there’s a separate case to be made against redistribution and the welfare state. […]
[…] Next we have a cartoon about incentives and the welfare state. […]
[…] In One Image, Everything You Need to Know about the Washington-Created Welfare State […]
[…] true that the current amalgamation of welfare programs also discourages work and creates dependency, but a government-provided basic income could make a […]
[…] to say, I fundamentally disagree with Ms. Rampell’s support for an even bigger welfare state, regardless of which taxpayers are being […]
[…] to say, I fundamentally disagree with Ms. Rampell’s support for an even bigger welfare state, regardless of which taxpayers are being […]
[…] to say, I fundamentally disagree with Ms. Rampell’s support for an even bigger welfare state, regardless of which taxpayers are being […]
[…] to say, I fundamentally disagree with Ms. Rampell’s support for an even bigger welfare state, regardless of which taxpayers are being […]
[…] but not for the right reasons. And my little example doesn’t include the value of any of the dozens of other redistribution programs in […]
[…] but not for the right reasons. And my little example doesn’t include the value of any of the dozens of other redistribution programs in […]
[…] I prefer R&D spending over almost all other types of spending (it’s better than redistribution outlays, and also better than money that goes for the Department of Agriculture, Department of […]
[…] benefits, I prefer R&D spending over almost all other types of spending (it’s better than redistribution outlays, and also better than money that goes for the Department of Agriculture, Department of Education, […]
[…] benefits, I prefer R&D spending over almost all other types of spending (it’s better than redistribution outlays, and also better than money that goes for the Department of Agriculture, Department of Education, […]
[…] argued that the so-called War on Poverty has been very bad news. We have a Byzantine system of handoutsthat require an army of bureaucrats to administer dozens of handouts that […]
[…] argued that the so-called War on Poverty has been very bad news. We have a Byzantine system of handouts that require an army of bureaucrats to administer dozens of handouts that subsidize bad […]
[…] evidence for why Washington should get out of the business of income redistribution, check out this visual depiction of the welfare […]
[…] evidence for why Washington should get out of the business of income redistribution, check out this visual depiction of the welfare […]
[…] want evidence for why Washington should get out of the business of income redistribution, check out this visual depiction of the welfare […]
[…] and an “insult to our intelligence.” Those same words could be used to describe the welfare state, the EEOC, farm subsidies, the tax code, and just about everything else the government […]
[…] and an “insult to our intelligence.” Those same words could be used to describe the welfare state, the EEOC, farm subsidies, the tax code, and just about everything else the government […]
[…] The Washington welfare morass. […]
[…] Amen. Local government oftentimes is bad, but it’s rarely as bad as a centralized system. […]
[…] is that the federal government does a very poor job of managing such programs, resulting in a maze of handouts that produce lots of fraud and […]
[…] National policies are the second-worst, often producing one-size-fits-all approaches accompanied by suffocating bureaucracy. […]
[…] conventional handouts such as welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, EITC, and housing subsidies. The plethora of such programs in Washington is bad news for both taxpayers and poor […]
[…] conventional handouts such as welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, EITC, and housing subsidies. The plethora of such programs in Washington is bad news for both taxpayers and poor […]
[…] The graphic used shows the 80+ different anti-poverty programs that spends upwards of a $1 trillion a year. More […]
[…] an ally in the fight against big government. He favored decentralization. He supported rolling back the welfare state. He favored entitlement reform. He supported tax cuts. He used his power and position to try to do […]
Bible says you don’t work, you don’t eat. Give this money to our military. Protect our borders.
[…] Means-tested programs for the ostensible purpose of alleviating poverty (e.g.., Medicaid, food stamps, welfare, etc). […]
[…] Means-tested programs for the ostensible purpose of alleviating poverty (e.g.., Medicaid, food stamps, welfare, etc). […]
[…] Means-tested programs for the ostensible purpose of alleviating poverty (e.g.., Medicaid, food stamps, welfare, etc). […]
[…] Tip: In One Image, Everything You Need to Know about the Washington-Created Welfare State, International […]
[…] in food stamp dependency – There are many redistribution programs that contribute to America’s dependency crisis, so food stamps can’t take the entire […]
[…] a complicated and costly mess that traps poor people in dependency while ripping off taxpayers and creating very […]
[…] about what will happen if we end drug prohibition while maintaining our bloated welfare state. The maze of handouts provided by Uncle Sam – for all intents and purposes – enables bad decisions. Would […]
[…] Washington’s Byzantine welfare state. […]
[…] Washington’s Byzantine welfare state. […]
[…] Washington’s Byzantine welfare state. […]
[…] Washington’s Byzantine welfare state. […]
[…] of the more interesting policy debates, both in America and around the world, is whether convoluted and counterproductive welfare states should be scrapped and replaced with a “basic income” payment from the […]
[…] of the more interesting policy debates, both in America and around the world, is whether convoluted and counterproductive welfare states should be scrapped and replaced with a “basic income” payment from the […]
[…] of the more interesting policy debates, both in America and around the world, is whether convoluted and counterproductive welfare states should be scrapped and replaced with a “basic income” payment from the […]
[…] of the more interesting policy debates, both in America and around the world, is whether convoluted and counterproductive welfare states should be scrapped and replaced with a “basic income” payment from the […]
[…] needed to understand an issue. Examples include the minimum wage, economic policy, the welfare state, supply-side economics, the tax code, Europe’s fiscal crisis, Social Security reform, […]
[…] that involves a major challenge since the real beneficiaries of the current system are the “poverty pimps” in […]
[…] that involves a major challenge since the real beneficiaries of the current system are the “poverty pimps” in […]
[…] that involves a major challenge since the real beneficiaries of the current system are the “poverty pimps” in […]
[…] America’s sprawling and Byzantine welfare state. […]
[…] America’s sprawling and Byzantine welfare state. […]
A very similar diagram could be drawn of the sprawling, bloated, overlapping, confusing and inefficient way we deliver health care in the US. So, you’ve made an excellent argument for an efficient single payer universal health care system. Thank you.
[…] America’s sprawling and Byzantine welfare state. […]
[…] America’s sprawling and Byzantine welfare state. […]
Can you please post a flow chart that can be read? Your resolution is so low that none of the words can be read.
[…] America’s sprawling and Byzantine welfare state. […]
If it wasn’t for all these welfare programs, tens of thousands of bureaucrats would be out of work. They’d be roaming the streets, probably on drugs and joining gangs. At least welfare programs keep them busy filling out forms and doing “studies” so they’re not out beating up and robbing innocent people to support their drug habits. It’s all well and good to say that they could get productive jobs, but clearly these are people not qualified to hold real jobs.
The link above is broken, to the “eye-popping flowchart ” about welfare. The following link works: