# Republicans should be careful of what they wish for **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 17, 2012, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124 "2012-02-17T12:00:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124/1 "2012-02-17T12:00:58Z")
Are they stupid, or just hypocritical? Hmmm. My first instinct upon seeing [this map](http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/02/12/us/entitlement-map.html?ref=us) is to be outraged at the hypocrisy, and think that it might be funny if states’ rights and a massive reduction in the social safety net were actually to become reality. It’s especially risible when you compare this map with places in the [McCain belt](http://thinkprogress.org/yglesias/2008/11/05/190434/the_mccain_belt/?mobile=nc) like eastern Kentucky. Could these people be any more full of crap? But [Paul Krugman](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/opinion/krugman-moochers-against-welfare.html?_r=1) makes me think it might just be plain ol’ stupidity: > [@](#): > > Cornell University’s Suzanne Mettler points out that many beneficiaries of government programs seem confused about their own place in the system. She tells us that 44 percent of Social Security recipients, 43 percent of those receiving unemployment benefits, and 40 percent of those on Medicare say that they “have not used a government program.” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124/2 "2012-02-17T14:30:20Z")
That Mettler quote really deserves its own thread. Does anyone know the source? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124/3 "2012-02-17T14:41:50Z")
Its like that guy that used to play The Coach when he said: “I’ve been on welfare and food stamps…did anyone help me?” on Glenn Beck. > **[Craig T. Nelson 's Glenn Beck Tax Rant (VIDEO)](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/video-craig-t-nelson-s-gl_n_209024)** > > Craig T. Nelson 's Glenn Beck Tax Rant (VIDEO) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124/4 "2012-02-17T15:08:16Z")
Except that guy played a federal judge in _The Skulls_, so he should totally have known better. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124/5 "2012-02-17T15:52:51Z")
Without tying any of that income (or the quote from Krugman) to specific individuals and their voting preference, I don’t know what conclusions I’m supposed to draw. What would be interesting is to see a statistical breakdown of the amount of income accrued from federal programs by people who vote Republican vs people who vote Democrat. The balance tipped in favor the former, then I’d agree with the OP. As it is, I can’t say either way. However, I would not count unemployment insurance or SS as part of that equation, since people are forced to pay into that system, there is no hypocrisy in taking money out. I would like to see SS completely privatized, but hell if I’m not going to get whatever I can out of the system when the time comes since I paid so much into it. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124/6 "2012-02-17T16:03:59Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > That Mettler quote really deserves its own thread. Does anyone know the source? [Here you go.](http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/March11/MettlerGov.html) John Mace, I agree that it’s not hypocritical to use unemployment or social security, but it is hypocritical (or, if we give the benefit of the doubt, stupid) to say that you’ve never benefited from a government program. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124/7 "2012-02-17T16:07:04Z")
Well… it _could_ be that people are thinking “government benefits are bad, but as long as they’re here, it is prudent for me to take advantage of them. But they shouldn’t be here.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124/8 "2012-02-17T16:11:40Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > [Here you go.](http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/March11/MettlerGov.html) > > John Mace, I agree that it’s not hypocritical to use unemployment or social security, but it is hypocritical (or, if we give the benefit of the doubt, stupid) to say that you’ve never benefited from a government program. Yep. Same goes for anyone who has deducted his mortgage from his federal income tax. Or taken any deduction, for that matter. Got children? You’re on welfare! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124/9 "2012-02-17T16:15:43Z")
Bullshit. I didn’t say “on welfare”. They’re benefiting from government programs. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124/10 "2012-02-17T17:00:03Z")
John, rereading your response, I was rather unduly snippy. I’m sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124/11 "2012-02-17T17:01:00Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Well… it _could_ be that people are thinking “government benefits are bad, but as long as they’re here, it is prudent for me to take advantage of them. But they shouldn’t be here.” Except the Mettler study specifically shows a very large number of people benefiting from government programs who do not seem to realize they’re benefiting from a government program. It’s not taking advantage of a system you disagree with, it’s not recognizing that you’re being helped by a system you think you disagree with. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124/12 "2012-02-17T17:03:55Z")
You’re paying your protection money. Did your business burn down? No? You’re benefiting from the “mafia community protection program”. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124/13 "2012-02-17T17:20:55Z")
Thanks, **Diana**. > [@John\_Mace](#): > > However, I would not count unemployment insurance or SS as part of that equation, since people are forced to pay into that system, there is no hypocrisy in taking money out. I would like to see SS completely privatized, but hell if I’m not going to get whatever I can out of the system when the time comes since I paid so much into it. People are forced to pay into all welfare programs via general tax revenues. The only difference is that they are forced to pay into SS and unemployment for a given length of time before becoming eligible for benefits- and even that’s not a difference in many cases, since lots of states impose residency requirements on welfare. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124/14 "2012-02-17T17:39:41Z")
Get the goddamned government OUT OF MY SOCIAL SECURITY! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124/15 "2012-02-17T18:59:39Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > John, rereading your response, I was rather unduly snippy. I’m sorry. No problem. Maybe I wasn’t clear, but I was actually making fun of people who think “welfare” is reserved for government subsidies to poor people. Most of us get direct government subsidies (as opposed to the overall benefit of things like police, etc) of some sort, and no reason that can’t be called “welfare”. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124/16 "2012-02-17T19:02:23Z")
Thanks John. Yeah, I got that on the second read. Sadly, I’ve been having arguing with idiots on another site and so was in “arguing with idiots” mode. 😉 Time to step away from the computer for a bit. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124/17 "2012-02-17T20:53:02Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Well… it _could_ be that people are thinking “government benefits are bad, but as long as they’re here, it is prudent for me to take advantage of them. But they shouldn’t be here.” Much like Obama’s attitude toward Super-PACs. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124/18 "2012-02-17T21:03:01Z")
I’ve been saying for a while that we should start an optional, opt-in program whereby we could allow anyone who so chose to get the government’s hands off their Medicare. Republicans and Democrats would both get what we want, and we’d even lower the deficit in the process! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124/19 "2012-02-17T21:14:51Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Much like Obama’s attitude toward Super-PACs. 😉 Precisely. I hear a lot of groaning about Obama’s sudden embrace of Super Pacs, but that’s the world he lives in. If the governing body of Baseball decided to add another inning to the game, it would make no sense for a team to “object” by only playing 9 innings. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124/20 "2012-02-17T21:22:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’ve been saying for a while that we should start an optional, opt-in program whereby we could allow anyone who so chose to get the government’s hands off their Medicare. Republicans and Democrats would both get what we want, and we’d even lower the deficit in the process! …as I sit back and listen to the cacophony of crickets and await the absent throngs of patriots to step up and proudly proclaim their extrication from the Medicare system. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-should-be-careful-of-what-they-wish-for/613124.md?page=2)