Let's take a look at who is receiving assistance. The 47& Mitten Romney sneered at.
Who are the 47%?
Federal budget and Census data show that, in 2010, 91 percent of the benefit dollars from entitlement and other mandatory programs went to the elderly (people 65 and over), the seriously disabled, and members of working households. People who are neither elderly nor disabled and do not live in a working household received only 9 percent of the benefits.
Moreover, the vast bulk of that 9 percent goes for medical care, unemployment insurance benefits (which individuals must have a significant work history to receive), Social Security survivor benefits for the children and spouses of deceased workers, and Social Security benefits for retirees between ages 62 and 64. Seven out of the 9 percentage points go for one of these four purposes.
80 percent of the workforce has seen their wages decline in real terms over the last quarter-century, and the average household has seen 40 percent of its wealth disappear during the Great Recession. Through it all, families never asked for a handout from anyone, especially Washington. They were left to go on their own, working harder, squeezing nickels, and taking care of themselves. But their economic boats have been taking on water for years, and now the crisis has swamped millions of middle class families.
ref ref
"Labor is the United States. The men and women, who with their minds, their hearts and hands, create the wealth that is shared in this countrythey are America."
President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Irrelevant to the fact that only a small fraction of them are working at Wally World, ignoramus hater pinhead.
Like I SAID BEFORE, they are not the only one, just the BIGGEST drag on taxpayers and the economy.
You didn't have the butler explain your word for the day, did you pea brain?...externalities
Hidden Taxpayer Costs
Disclosures of Employers Whose Workers and Their Dependents are Using State Health Insurance Programs
Alabama
At the top of the list was Wal-Mart, whose employees had 4,700 children in the program. Following it were McDonald's (1,931), Hardee's (884) and Burger King (861).
Arizona
At the top of the list was Wal-Mart, with about 2,700 workers--or 9.6 percent of its Arizona workforce--participating in the program. It was followed by Target, Kroger and regional supermarket chain Bashas, each of which had about 5 percent of their workers getting state healthcare coverage.
Arkansas
The disclosure found a total of 9,698 workers at the top nine employers,
by far the largest number of which--3,971--were employees of Wal-Mart.
Connecticut
For HUSKY A,
the top employer of workers with children in the plan was Wal-Mart, with 824 workers with children in the plan. It was followed by Stop & Shop (741), Dunkin' Donuts (530), Laidlaw (460) and McDonald's (also 460).
Florida
Leading the Medicaid list was Wal-Mart with 12,300 employees or their dependents enrolled in the program. Wal-Mart also accounted for 1,375 employee children enrolled in Kidcare (second only to Miami-Dade County with 1,518). The other employers with the most Medicaid enrollees were McDonald's (8,100), Publix (7,900), Wendy's (4,100), Winn-Dixie (4,000) and Burger King (3,900). Publix ranked third on the KidCare list with 1,250 and Winn-Dixie ranked fifth (after Broward County Schools) with 379.
Georgia
At the top of the list was Wal-Mart, whose employees in Georgia had 10,261 children in PeachCare. Far behind in second place was Publix with 734, followed by Shaw Industries (669), Mohawk Industries (657) and Cagle's Keystone Foods (463).
Iowa
The list, prepared by the state Department of Human Services,
listed Wal-Mart first with 845 employees. It was followed by Tyson Fresh Meats (388), Casey's General Stores (371), Hy-Vee Inc. (361) and Access Direct Telemarketing (217).
Maine
At the top of the list was Wal-Mart, with 751 workers receiving benefits. It was followed by supermarket chain Hannaford with 527 and LL Bean with 170.
Massachusetts
In February
2006 Wal-Mart was at the top of the list, with a total of 2,866 MassHealth members and UCP users. It was followed by Stop & Shop (2,737), McDonald's (2,162) and UNICCO (1,728).
In February
2007 the third report was issued.
Wal-Mart was at the top of the list when counting the total number of MassHealth members (employees and dependents) and UCP users. Its total was 6,070. Second was Stop & Shop with 5,785.
In May
2008 the fourth report was issued.
Wal-Mart again was first with 5,021 employees and Stop & Shop was again second with 3,868.
Missouri
At the top of the list is Wal-Mart, which was found to have 1,555 employees enrolled in MHN and another 3,040 employees with dependents enrolled in MHN.
Montana
In June 2005 the Great Falls Tribune examined records for the state's CHIP program and found that the private employer with
the largest number of workers with dependents receiving the health insurance was Wal-Mart. Its 193 employees using CHIP represented about 4 percent of the company's workforce in the state. Other companies high on the list were McDonald's, Pizza Hut, NAPA Auto Parts and Subway.
Nebraska
Leading the list was Wal-Mart with 654 workers and Tyson with 548.
New Hampshire
The employer at the top of the list in both categories was Wal-Mart, which had 487 of its 8,500 workers in the state getting subsidized coverage. Also high on the list were the state government, Dunkin' Donuts, the supermarket chain Shaw's, Concord Hospital, nursing-home operator Genesis and the U.S. Postal Service.
New Jersey
The employer with the most was Wal-Mart, with a total of 589 adults and children. It was followed by Home Dept (335), the supermarket chain Pathmark (329) and Target (302).
Ohio
For Medicaid,
Wal-Mart was first with 13,141 employees, followed by McDonald's (11,446), Yum! Brands (6,596) and Wendy's (5,620). For food stamps, McDonald's was first with 9,316, followed by Wal-Mart (8,565), Yum! Brands (5,286) and Wendy's (4,623). McDonald's also led the list with regard to cash assistance with 874 employees. It was followed by Yum! Brands (500), Wendy's (450) and Wal-Mart (305). The same four companies were at the top of the list when the Department of Job and Family Services released its own report in February 2006 in response to requests from Policy Matters Ohio and others.
Pennsylvania
Wal-Mart was at the top of the list, with 15.8 percent of its workforce (7,577 individuals) enrolled. Giant Food Stores was second with 11.8 percent (2,244 workers).
Rhode Island
The report found nine such employers. Not including temp agencies, the companies with the largest number of total beneficiaries (employees and dependents) were Citizens Financial Group (610) and
Wal-Mart (500).
Tennessee
Ranking first was Wal-Mart, with 9,617 employees on TennCare, nearly 25 percent of the company's entire workforce in the state. Trailing Wal-Mart among the top five were four temp agencies: Randstad Staffing Services USA (6,389), Adecco USA Inc. (4,205), Staffmark East LLC (3,818) and Real Time Staffing Services (3,783). The survey found that the top 20 employers of TennCare recipients accounted for more than 68,000 participants in the program, or about six percent of total enrollment.
Texas
The data for February 2005 show
Wal-Mart at the top of the list, with 2,333 employee families in CHIP, with an estimated 4,363 individual children enrolled. Many of the other employers on the list are school districts (led by Houston with 712 families). The University of Texas System ranked third with 475 families. Among the other private-sector employers on the list are the department-store chain Dillard's (sixth with 284 families) and McDonald's (13th with 238 families). The full list for both March 2004 and February 2005 is here.
Utah
the
employer with the largest number of such workers was Wal-Mart, with 234. It was followed by call-center operator Convergys with 181.
Vermont
The state government itself was said to account for largest number of such employees with 481. Among the private-sector companies with the most workers using Medicaid were Price Chopper (443), McDonald's (290), Hannaford (288) and
Wal-Mart (286). Among industry groups, grocery stores accounted for the largest number at 1,036.
Washington
In December 2006 the Tacoma News Tribune reported that new numbers from the state showed that
Wal-Mart still accounted for the largest number of workers receiving benefits from the state's Medicaid and Basic Health plan. The number for Wal-Mart was 3,194--far ahead of number two McDonald's with 1,932.
In January 2006 the Seattle Times had reported that
the number of Wal-Mart employees (or their dependents) in the state receiving taxpayer-subsidized health coverage was more than 3,100--nearly double that of any other company and far more than had previously been reported. Wal-Mart had 3,180 employees on the Medicaid list and 456 on the Basic Health tally. On the Medicaid list, McDonald's came in second with 1,824 employees receiving benefits, followed by Safeway with 1,539.
Back in February
2003, At the top of the list was Wal-Mart, with 341 workers participating in the plan. It was followed by Catholic Community Services (265), Del Monte (253), Snokist (218) and Express Personnel (191). In February 2004 the Seattle Times reported that 281 Wal-Mart workers were enrolled in Basic Health as of March 2003.
West Virginia
Leading the list was Wal-Mart, with 452 workers whose children participated in the plan. This group represented about 4 percent of the company's employees in the state. Next on the list were the tree-cutting company Asplundh (146), McDonald's (100), Respite Care (97) and the U.S. Postal Service (94).
Wisconsin
At the top of the list was Wal-Mart, which had 897 employees enrolled, plus an additional 776 dependents. The Department projected the annual cost to the state of those enrollees at $3.7 million. Other employers at the top of the list were McDonald's (248 employees; 149 dependents), the non-profit healthcare provider Aurora (193; 162), and home improvement chain Menard (163; 184). The 116 employers with 15 or more employees on BadgerCare were said to cost the state a total of $23.9 million a year.
In October 2005 Wisconsin Citizen Action published a report estimating that large corporations, led by Wal-Mart, were costing the state $46 million a year because of the participation of their employees in public medical assistance programs.
church? 
Yanno, not all people are where they are because of bad choices. The two-party system plays a part in keeping the wealthy wealthy & the poor poor through lobbyists, what they can have written into legislation (see: Cheney's *cough* "energy" task force 
) & who can afford them.
