I think that today’s show is a repeat, but I had not seen it before. Bill O’reilly was at it again, comparing apples and oranges to make a false argument against so-called “entitlements.” He used a chart that disappeared before I could write down the numbers exactly, but they were approximately 105+ million employees in the private sector, 20+ million government employees and 60+ million recipients of government largesse. Government employees pay taxes at the same rates as you and I and teachers, policemen, firemen, and members of the armed services provide services that we all need and benefit from. There are drones on the public payroll just as there are drones in private enterprise.
And not every recipient of a government “entitlement” check is a single black mother with three or more illegitimate children. I suspect that most recipients of government “entitlements” have paid taxes for many years and feel “entitled” to them. O’Reilly lumps different categories together to generate large numbers so that he can draw simplistic and false conclusions to support his GOP world-view.
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Filed under: Politics Tagged: Entitlement, Private sector, Republican