Nathan, you write:
>
> Since a large chunk of the deficits pays for the non-defense parts of the
> budget, you can't count all debt as non-aid for the average voter. And a
> large portion of defense is payroll for soldiers and for the pay of
defense
> workers, not by favorite forms of job programs, but not going directly
into
> the pockets of corporate profits either.
True to a point. Aid to the average is funded by paying a premium to the wealthy interests for the use of their money. This is a curious welfare state: my net worth goes up by lending $$$ to gov that will feed people! Repayment on the national debt is a special form of aid to the nonaverage voter.
If you define the welfare state in terms of payroll $$$ then the US welfare state is a proverbial candy store. Class still matters how high you reach into those candy bins.
And a large portion of those defense $$ that is the payroll for soldiers results in a large portion of military families relying on food stamps and other welfare services to make ends meet. The issue isn't whether gov $$$ go to those other than business corporations and the wealthy, the issue is whether the provision of services and supports for those in need is declining.
> don't forget the disability payments involved for the non-old disabled.
And
> relieving the burden on the working poor of covering the retirement and
> health costs of their parents is not a small gain either.
This one is fuzzy. You and Sawicky seem to see a silver lining to this cloud. It seems that gov $$$ are not offsetting the higher costs older households are bearing because of changes in health care costs. But the whole matter of health care costs also has more than a hint of redistribution from poor to rich.
>
> The fact remains that our tax system generally transfers taxes paid by
> wealthier citizens to benefits enjoyed by less-well-off people.
One measure of this might be the share of income the lowest income quintile receives, less government cash transfers. If memory serves me correctly, that share was around 1 percent of income. Add transfer payments and this segment reaps something over 3 percent of all income.
Dennis Breslin