Romney’s "47 percent of Americans are government freeloaders who see themselves as victims"

http://dailycaller.com/2012/10/18/report-welfare-governments...

The government spent approximately $1.03 trillion on 83 means-tested federal welfare programs in fiscal year 2011 alone — a price tag that makes welfare that year the government's largest expenditure.

The total sum taxpayers spent on federal welfare programs was derived from a new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report on federal welfare spending — which topped out at $745.84 billion for fiscal year 2011 — combined with an analysis from the Republican Senate Budget Committee staff of state spending on federal welfare programs (based on The Oxford Handbook of State and Local Government Finance), which reached $282.7 billion in fiscal year 2011.

The data excludes spending on Social Security, Medicare, means-tested health care for veterans without service-connected disabilities, and the means-tested veterans pension program.
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Whether it's 47% or a lesser figure, $1 trillion is a lot of loot for programs for folks who didn't pay into them or otherwise earn it. That's a lot of competition for our SS and Medicare benefits and for funds to keep the country safe.

--fleg