USA, Welfare State?

From America’s official curmudgeon, Jack Cafferty:

Almost half of Americans – 48.5% – live in a household that gets some kind of government aid.

That’s a record high according to census data for the first quarter of 2010. It’s up from about 44% of the population in 2008… and from less than 30% in 1983.

Here’s how it breaks down:

More than 34% of Americans live in a household that gets either food stamps, subsidized housing, cash welfare or Medicaid. Applications for these programs are up nearly 50% in the past decade.

More than 14% live in homes where someone is on Medicare.

16% live in homes getting Social Security.

But that’s only half the story.

As unemployment hovers above 9%, more than 46 million Americans live below the poverty line. And as more people turn to government assistance, there are fewer people actually paying taxes to support all these programs.

It’s estimated that more than 46% of households will pay no federal income tax this year. In 2010, 45% of households paid no federal income tax.