Entitlements Are A Right

Every time the federal government can’t get its fiscal house in order, we start hearing about entitlement reform. Republicans in particular like to use that word entitlement because it sounds like somebody’s getting benefits they don’t deserve. Nothing makes the hardworking Joe angrier than people who think they’re “entitled” to something.

Don’t believe the bull. Those so-called entitlements include benefits that Americans worked hard for: Medicaid, housing assistance, student grants, food programs, child care, job training, and more. These programs make up the social safety net that keeps the middle-class backbone of our economy strong in tough times.

The only reason politicians on the corporate leash want to slash needed expenditures like these is to protect the huge wealth imbalance that lets the rich get richer while everybody else pays. Instead of extracting the last few cents from the needy, we need to clamp down on greed.

Yes, I’m wealthy, but I remember what it was like to be a regular guy sweating for every dollar. And I know that most people aren’t going to get rich no matter how hard they work. That doesn’t mean the government shouldn’t keep up its end of the bargain. A 21st-century nation that lets its citizens slide into poverty and deprives its children of opportunity is taking a backward approach to history.

Don’t buy the right-wing, Tea Party nonsense that “entitlements” are a luxury we can’t afford. They’re a legal right and necessary for a civilized America.