Perhaps Dennis Redmond got a bit tipsy off his rhetoric but your observation needs some qualification too. Looking at outlays by government agency, the Treasury Department has taken over 20% for the past decade, which I presume represents largely the repayment to wealthy interests for the loans the government took out. Combine that with Defense and these agencies have comprised 40% of all outlays. Human resources (their language not mine) spending represents the largest category, but the tilt is as you suggest - social security, medicare, veterans benefits, pensions - money going to retirees. Which is a decidedly biased welfare state if you're poor and young. Then there's the issue of just who or where all this massive government spending is going - all those medicare dollars are being spread around to a whole bunch of mom and pop healthcare establishments. And the billions in military procurement do nicely for the Generals - Electric, Dynamic. At the very least, there's several ways to cut-up the welfare state - class and age clearly. And there's different meanings of welfare - protecting investments, providing opportunity, sustaining destitution. So I'm not sure the poor and working class are getting all that much.
Dennis Breslin