|
Contents
What's New?
Biography
Blog
Budget Myths
Contacting The Reagan Foundation
Deficits & Debts
The Expansion
Gift Shop
Home
Image Gallery
Income Growth
Job Growth
News & Commentary
Reagan Foundation
Reagan Memorial Fund
References
Social Spending
Speeches & Wise Words
Standard of Living
Tax Cuts
Tributes |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Social Spending and Federal Tax Burden on Families with Children | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Social Spending | GDP Growth | Tax Burden | |||
| Year | Billions of Constant (1990) Dollars | Percent of GDP | GDP (billions) | Per Capita | Income |
| 1960 | 143.725 | 6.73 | 1,970.8 | 10,903 | 12 |
| 1965 | 187.998 | 6.96 | 2,470.5 | 12,712 | 14 |
| 1970 | 301.129 | 9.33 | 2,873.9 | 14,013 | 16 |
| 1975 | 479.839 | 13.03 | 3,221.7 | 14,917 | 18 |
| 1980 | 584.839 | 13.58 | 3,776.3 | 16,584 | 24 |
| 1985 | 683.254 | 13.93 | 4,279.8 | 17,944 | 24 |
| 1990 | 787.000 | 14.40 | 4,877.5 | 19,513 | 24 |
Clearly, we are spending more than enough on entitlements. Think of how much families would benefit if their tax levels were smaller by 24% of their income! By assuming that we can't save for our own retirement or help those in need, we've decided to bankrupt our country in order to "fix" the problems we assume will not be fixed without the government.
Funny, but we managed to stumble along for 150 years before huge government programs came along. Our times of greatest prosperity this century have come when we've reduced the relative burden of taxation. That should tell us all what the right course is.