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What Are Entitlement Programs?

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Clarissa

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I’m reading a letter signed by several university presidents who are lobbying the Congress not to implement any further cuts to education. This is, of course, a noble goal.

However, what they propose to cut instead are “entitlement programs” which are named in this letter as the main source of the federal deficit. Unless by entitlement programs they mean the military budget, I think there is something fishy here.

I still find the vocabulary of the US economy confusing. Can anybody help? What are these “entitlement programs” that university leaders are proposing to cut to save our universities?

29 responses to “What Are Entitlement Programs?”

  1. David Gendron Avatar
    David Gendron

    Holy crap:

    http://www.auburn.edu/~johnspm/gloss/entitlement_program

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  2. N G Avatar
    N G

    The two big ones are medicaid (healthcare for those over 65) and social security (retirement payments). Not military. Other smaller ones are things like food stamps or SNAP as it is called now.

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    1. bloggerclarissa Avatar
      bloggerclarissa

      So this is what our university leaders are asking to cut??? Retirement, medicaid, and food stamps?

      OK, this just doesn’t sound right. It sounds very right-wing but not right. Can it be?

      Ay yay yay.

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    2. David Bellamy Avatar
      David Bellamy

      No!! Medicaid is healthcare for the very poor, especially children. Medicare is the program for those over 65.

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  3. nominatissima Avatar
    nominatissima

    Social Security, Medicare, SNAP Benefits, WIC, and other programs like that are “entitlement programs”, named as such because if you meet certain standards, you’re entitled to access the funds/goods associated with them.
    And I must say, as a former U.S resident who was both a college student *and* a recipient of SNAP and SSI, I have to say, cutting those programs is a baaad idea. I can’t exactly be a stellar student if most of my time is occupied thinking about how I’ll keep from starving/being homeless. It’s a red herring, and you already mentioned the real program which sucks away most funding in this post.

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  4. David Gendron Avatar
    David Gendron

    I hate that kind of rightist language.

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  5. N G Avatar
    N G

    There is a conference this weekend at UND which advertises itself as a “certified military friendly college.” What does this mean?

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    1. nominatissima Avatar
      nominatissima

      Some colleges (Harvard and Berkeley) have a reputation of being “military unfriendly” because they discouraged military recruiters from coming to campus, Berkeley because of pacifist reasons, Harvard because DADT was in place at the time, which meant the military didn’t cut muster as a place of employment that met Harvard’s standards of non-discrimination. So my guess would be welcoming military recruiters?

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      1. bloggerclarissa Avatar
        bloggerclarissa

        Is this going to be a thread for bad news, or what? That’s what we need, more military recruiters on campus. Along with more Bible-thumpers.

        Sheesh.

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        1. nominatissima Avatar
          nominatissima

          Military recruiters also came to my high school, I remember. A law had just been passed which meant that they didn’t have to ask our parents’ permission to access our address and phone number from the school, so they were calling my house all the time because I got an unusually high score on one of those tests (I think it was the Compass test)
          Needless to say, I wasn’t pleased, and basically told them to sod off.

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    2. David Gendron Avatar
      David Gendron

      That means that this indoctrination jail is promoting terrorism.

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  6. bloggerclarissa Avatar
    bloggerclarissa

    Another proposal is to “reform the tax system”. Of course, it isn’t specified how it should be reformed and in view of the suggestion about the entitlement program cuts, I’m not very optimistic.

    Can’t the education be defended in a way that won’t deprive seniors of pensions and the unemployed of food stamps? Because, seriously, who wants to make this kind of choice???

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  7. David Gendron Avatar
    David Gendron

    In fact, universities should be underfunded by the government to save social security, but before, we have to cut something else.

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  8. Diego Avatar
    Diego

    Entitlement programs are any benefits or rights that people receive due to legislation that was passed by Congress as opposed to “natural rights”. Besides those mentioned already they include Pell Grants, VA education benefits, Social Security, VA health benefits, agricultural subsidies,public housing programs, and many many more. As you can see “cutting entitlements” depends on just whose ox is being gored. Do you think these uni prezes would scream if there were no Pell grants and no VA education benefits?

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    1. bloggerclarissa Avatar
      bloggerclarissa

      The letter they are signing is actually aimed at protecting Pell Grants from being cut.

      This is getting very confusing.

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      1. Diego Avatar
        Diego

        As I said, it depends on whose ox is being gored. Of course, they didn’t mean THEIR programs. THEIR’s aren’t entitlements, just somebody else’s entitlement. Let’s take the milk out of the diet of babies, but don’t touch the Pell Grants. After all, babies don’t vote. Let’s take the school lunches from kids whose parents can’t afford to pack lunches for them, but don’t touch the Pell Grants. After all elementary kids don’t vote. Etc,etc.

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        1. bloggerclarissa Avatar
          bloggerclarissa

          Totally ridiculous. All of it is just hugely bizarre. Why is everything pretending not to see the real elephant in the room, which is the out-of-control military spending?

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          1. Diego Avatar
            Diego

            Ssssshhhh! Hey, we paid for them on our credit card. The Chinese haven’t squawked yet. Well, not too much.

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          2. Diego Avatar
            Diego

            The crazy thing is that Eisenhower (left office in January 1960) warned us about the domination of the government the “military-industrial complex”, Reagan destroyed the Soviet Union by luring them into Afghanistan and we follow the same path voluntarily with open eyes.

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            1. bloggerclarissa Avatar
              bloggerclarissa

              The collapse of the USSR had nothing to do with Reagan, actually. I have a series of posts on who really caused it and for what reason. (In my opinion, of course).

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              1. Diego Avatar
                Diego

                I would love to find them and read them. Opinion from a first hand source.

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              2. bloggerclarissa Avatar
                bloggerclarissa

                Here they are:

                Part I https://clarissasblog.com/2011/03/08/who-caused-the-collapse-of-the-soviet-union-part-i/
                Part II https://clarissasblog.com/2011/03/09/who-caused-the-collapse-of-the-soviet-union-part-ii/
                Part III https://clarissasblog.com/2011/03/10/who-caused-the-collapse-of-the-soviet-union-part-iii/

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              3. Diego Avatar
                Diego

                Thank you.

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            2. David Bellamy Avatar
              David Bellamy

              No!!! Eisenhower left office in January 1961. I remember it well. Presidents leave office in even numbered years only through death or resignation.

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              1. Diego Avatar
                Diego

                You are right. January 1961.

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  9. Isabel Avatar
    Isabel

    Social Security is not an entitlement! Workers and employers pay into it over the course of their lifetimes. Where is the money going??

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    1. Diego Avatar
      Diego

      The Social Security Trust Fund has been looted by Congress for decades to pay for cost overruns in other areas of the budget. Remember, the House originates all money bills and once Congress passes them, the President can only sign the bill and implement it or veto it. He can not spend money himself. Only Congress can order money spent. In other words, all the BS about a spendthrift Obama is just that. In fact for the past 10 years when Bush or Obama sent a budget bill to the Congress, it was increased by the House which was in Republican hands for 6 of those years. Both Bush and Obama are parsimonious cheap skates when compared to the House of Representatives.

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  10. David Bellamy Avatar
    David Bellamy

    Looted by Congress is a ridiculous way of characterizing the Social Security system’s buying of government bonds. It is not possible to just let money sit idly, and government bonds are the safest place to put it, so far.

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  11. FD Avatar
    FD

    I think this is apposite.

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/09/14/1016239/-Politics-101:-Entitlements?via=blog_792316

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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