Sense on Cents

I will never forget the mental and emotional sensation of purchasing my first real asset. That holding, a co-operative apartment in Brooklyn, New York was where I began my married life and started my family. I am not writing this to reminisce about life back in the mid-’80s, but rather because those memories came back to me as I read an article in this morning’s Wall Street Journal entitled, Obstacle to Deficit Cutting: A Nation on Entitlements:

Efforts to tame America’s ballooning budget deficit could soon confront a daunting reality: Nearly half of all Americans live in a household in which someone receives government benefits, more than at any time in history.

I have zero problem with people receiving benefits. To the extent that people have earned the benefits, let’s make sure that we take care of our elderly and ill. I am happy to be the first in line to make these payments.

At the same time, the fraction of American households not paying federal income taxes has also grown—to an estimated 45% in 2010, from 39% five years ago, according to the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan research organization.

This factoid, though, leaves me with an entirely different feeling.  (more…)