Benjamin Franklin on Welfare

"To relieve the misfortunes of our fellow creatures is concurring with the Deity; it is godlike, but, if we provide encouragement for laziness, and supports for folly, may we not be found fighting against the order of God and Nature, which perhaps has appointed want and misery as proper punishmets for, and cautions against, as well as necessary consequences of, idleness and extravagance? Whenever we attempt to amend the scheme of Providence and to interfere with government of the world, we had need be very circumspect, lest we do more harm than good. " Benjamin Franklin (In Smyth, writings of Benjamin Franklin, 3:135)

Franklin D Roosevelt on Government Regulation and Legislation

“The doctrine of regulation and legislation by ‘master minds,’ in whose judgment and will all the people may gladly and quietly acquiesce, has been too glaringly apparent at Washington…Were it possible to find ‘master minds’ so unselfish, so willing to decide unhesitatingly against their own personal interests or private prejudices, men almost godlike in their ability to hold the scales of justice with an even hand, such a government might be to the interests of the country; but there are none such on our political horizon, and we cannot expect a complete reversal of all the teachings of history.” Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in 1930, when he was still governor of New York.

Ways to Spend Money

Milton and Rose Friedman, in their book Free to Choose, showed that there are only four ways in which money can be spent.  First, your money can be spent on yourself. When you spend your money on yourself, you try your best to get what you want at the least cost. Second, you can spend your money on other people. Again, you try to get the best price you can although you may not be as concerned about getting exactly what you want.  Third, you can spend other people’s money on yourself. Here, you don’t care how much is spent and you try to get all you can (this is how special interests use government to get other people’s money). Fourth, you spend other people’s money on other people. You didn’t have to earn the money and you get credit for all the “good” you do with the money (along with the power to decide who gets the money).  Number four is the way all government programs work.

An Entitlement Equals an Obligation

Every entitlement given to any individual by the government is matched by a corresponding obligation which the government must impose on another individual to provide the entitlement.  This holds not only for entitlements to individuals, but also to support which the government gives to companies, schools, and groups of any kind.  For example the government’s investment of over 500 million dollars in the solar panel company Solyndra, required the government to collect $1,000. from over 500,000 households.  Think about that every time you hear about another government program, no matter how laudable you think the intentions.