The current entitlement process which is hemorrhaging the American taxpayers money in an effort to redistribute income and wealth from individuals who desire to work hard to better themselves and their families to those who have no desire to either work or contribute to the general welfare of our nation, is leading our nation to the brink of complete financial demise.  This is being done by those doing whatever they can to live off the taxpayers through the nationally mandated social welfare programs.  These programs cost the taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars each year tax free to the recipients, while those who desire to work and cannot work are subjected to taxation as is those who save and pass their wealth on to their families.  It is unequivocally wrong for the government to punish those who desire to work for their betterment and their family’s betterment, while giving those who do not desire to work to better their lives or their family’s lives.

To rectify this wrong, I would like to see a flat-rate welfare benefit tax on most of the population that receives the benefits, which they have for the most part not paid directly into the benefits that they are receiving.  Those benefits, I propose taxing are Social Security Disability (SSI), Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Section-8 Housing and Medicaid, which are usually caused by immoral personal decisions.  The rate for the tax will be based on age and decrease every ten years, during the adult working years, culminating with the removal of the tax once reaching the age of 66.

The following table will show the rates, which starts at the minimum working age of 16.

Those who are under the age of 22 and in school full-time, making successful progress towards their High School Diploma or an Undergraduate Degree; or anyone who is catastrophically disabled, through means that were determined to be not in any way the responsibility of the recipient, will be exempted from the tax.  This will prompt individuals to start making appropriate and responsible lifestyle decisions and add revenue for the national government to try and offset the exorbitant costs of these abused programs.  In addition, anyone who fraudulently receives any of these program benefits will be guilty of a felony and subject to a fine equivalent to the amount of benefits fraudulently received in addition to twice the Tax Rate for each year that the fraud was committed and imprisonment for no less than 10 years, nor more than 25 years in a national penitentiary and permanently prohibited from receiving such benefits for the remainder of the individual’s life.