Quote: I benifit primarily from the security I recieve from our military (and I did my fair share for them too). No handouts, no free medical care, no gimmees. And I am fortunate in that I have a good life and thank America for that..
Come on, you benefit a LOT more than just your security.
Every item you purchase, from a load of bread to a car, was able to be produced at the price it was because of federal subsidies in some form.
Social programs, yes, are expensive and you might not ever need them. But, chances are at some point in your life your either did or will need them in some capacity. Whether it's WIC when you're a baby, federal unemployment as an adult, or Medicare when you retire.
Obviously, those paying for many of those programs are not using them at the time. That's sort of the point. If you need many of those programs you're probably not paying a great deal of taxes at the time -- but you probably did at some point in time.
Without many of those social programs are society would be a cesspool. There wouldn't be healthy workers to flip your cheap burgers; or provide tens of millions of workers the health insurance, food, and shelter they need to be the backbone of our industrial society (whether currently or what they will be in the future), millions would be unemployed without federal subsidies to protect their industries, millions of farmers would go bankrupt in a bad year causing food shortages in the future, so on and so forth.
I'm not saying that all the social programs are good. But to say that you don't benefit from any (or even most) social programs is a very narrow view of the situation. You might not be benefitting directly, but the minimum/low wage back-bone of our society would cease to exist without the numerous federal programs that provide basic needs for those people. Without those people you would most certainly be affected.
I guarantee that no one here pays as much taxes off their paycheck as I do. Thanks to the great thing (no being sarcastic, it really is great, but it is expensive) that is Railroad Retirement, 13% of my check goes straight to them on top of my federal taxes. I pay my Medicare/Medicaid taxes even though the railroad will provide me benefits forever. But, I don't complain. I know that, while I would rather not pay for something I don't need, I realize that some people do need that. And, while it would be great if I could just donate that money to some sort of insurance provider for the elderly that would be a little more trust-worthy than our government, that's not an option right now. I've needed help at some point in my life, and the government helped me then. That help got me through the tough time and now I do incredibly well for myself -- without the government assistance, I never would be able to pay the taxes I pay now (and they're a lot, trust me). The government got a HUGE return on their 'investment' in me.
That's not even counting the government assistance that is education loans -- another social program that turns the wheels of our economy.
