Here's How Many Californians Are 'Freeloading,' as Mitt Romney Would Say

Here's How Many Californians Are "Freeloading," as Mitt Romney Would Say

By Brandon R. Reynolds Wed., Sep. 19 2012 at 6:00 AM

Good idea!

Mitt Romney has decided that 47 percent of Americans are freeloaders (aka bums, leeches, mooches). But what he has been less clear about is who these government bloodsuckers are. How does one really define a "freeloader"?

From the rich man himself:

There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what. ...These are people who pay no income tax. ... [M]y job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.

Now if you were to define "freeloading" as just "people who plan to vote for Obama," then you have at least two ways to spot these so-called politically active deadbeats:

According to 2008 election results, 61 percent of California voters were "freeloaders." That's 8,274,473 Californians who chose "loading freely" at the voting booth.

According to polls for the 2012 election, about 57 percent of Golden State voters, or about 7.73 million people, are (currently) planning to freeload the president into a second term. That number is, coincidentally, similar to the percentage of sales of the "Obama Pooper," which will crap out candy as it walks across your desk. That, of course, is what we would call a literal free load.

As the Washington Post's helpful graphic points out, Romney was referencing a Tax Policy Center study with his "47 percent." Turns out, it was only 18 percent who didn't pay income or payroll taxes, of which most were elderly or living below the income threshold. In California, that comes out to 37 percent who are non-liability, non-federalist, rabble-rousing tax-dodgers. (When you start accounting for things like income level and retirement, though, that percentage dwindles to a freeloading singularity.)

Now it's no secret that California loves its government, so let's break down those "dependent upon government" into various assistance programs:

Welfare: 1,367,250 people on CalWORKS, of which 75 percent are children, or "li'l freeloaders" (formerly "freeloadettes")

Food Stamps: 4,052,056 "freecarboloaders" on CalFRESH & California Food Assistance Program

Supplemental Security Income: That's 1,280,605 aged, blind, and disabled freeloaders.

There are more -- many more -- but let's just say that 7.6 percent of Californians are receiving assistance, which comes out to 2.86 million emancipated containerizers who Romney will "never convince ... [to] take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

Suppose you're calling a freeloader someone "who believe[s] that they are entitled to ... food," you could make the leap and assume that all 37,691,912 Californians think they should be allowed to eat.

There you have it: the real information you need before you head to the polls come November. Unfortunately, no figures were available that told us how many self-identifying Victim-Americans currently reside in California.

Follow us on Twitter at @TheSnitchSF and @SFWeekly

Tags:

California freeloaders, CalWORKS, freeloaders, Mitt Romney, Obama, poor people

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trishholmeide

The problem isn't that those who have earned benefits receive them for whatever reason--the problem is the millions upon millions whose sole life experience is living by way of government handouts who fully expect someone else to support their housing, medical coverage, food, and spending money--of which after I pay taxes they have far more disposable income than me. Millions are applying for "disability" benefits because their unemployment benefits have run out and they can't find a job. Millions more--even with their food stamps (which they often sell to get drugs and other things) are perfectly willing to have the government pick up the responsibility to feed their children 2-3 meals a day! Quite often I get clients who come in complaining about their fibromyalgia, arthritis, Crohn's, migraines, chronic back pain etc. who were sent by their disability attorneys to receive mental health treatment because it will look good when they get their hearing if they also have developed some other "debilitating" problems to get the court to approve their disability. Funny thing is I and many of my co-workers have all those issues, but we are working despite the medical problems that arise over time and as a matter of living. What happens when those who are working paying taxes into Title 19 "entitlement" funds stop working? The so-called rich already pay over 47% of all taxes in this country, why would anyone want to live and invest in the USA just to provide benefits to the other half of the country? Can't anyone get realistic about the issue--yes, the entire system is falling apart and there will be no "freebies" for anyone in the near future if something isn't done to stop the government from spending us into oblivion!

opiper

@trishholmeide Ok, so this issue doesn't strike you as the few terrifying the many? If 47% of Americans receive government benefits, then 100% of the 47% are trying to cheat the system and get over on the taxpayers? Wow. You wanna tell a veteran s/he's a freeloader? What if the veteran has PTSD, is addicted to alcohol or drugs, and/or homeless? So what if a vet fails a drug test and then is denied food stamps, right? Sounds reasonable to let the freeloader starve, no? It reminds me of the nightly news always hyping the anomalies, making them sound like the norm. Like every stranger is a child abductor, and one puff of pot will make you criminally insane, and terrorists are in our supermarkets, and pit bulls must be banned because they kill people. All of those hyped fears are complete crap perpetuated by our fear-mongering media (for example, akitas and german shepherds are more frequently lethal than pitties, but never in the news). The ten or 15 people that use government benefits as a lifestyle, not a safety net, have apparently been found by Fox News and pasted all over the tabloids. And now people get very angry thinking EVERY person getting benefits is trying to do scantless things like buy drugs instead of rent/food and then have more kids just to increase their entitlement amounts. But they are NOT the norm. They are a hyped enigma created to scare us. They are the poor and working poor, and are especially people of color. Almost all people conservatives love to hate just for existing are lumped into their derogatory generalizations. And somewhere in there is a troubled veteran wondering why the rich financiers and legislators that underwrote his/her PTSD get to take home ten times his pay for life, but eliminate his benefits because he's a "freeloader?" I think the difference between liberals and conservatives is where to draw the line. Liberals are OK if the system is abused by a few but not a lot, and definately not all. Conservatives would rather throw the baby out with the bathwater and eliminate all entitlements (except, of course, the ones THEY feel entitled to) and not help those that truly have need (like, say, veterans) just to deprive the few jerks that take advantage. If you want real reform (& cash savings) I say forget about the welfare freeloaders and worry about the corporate freeloaders and their ugly twins, the lucky recipients of our "too big to fail" fiscal policies (from GM and Bank of America, to Halliburton and multiple generations of Bush family investors). It's about time to PRIORITIZE better. It's time to stop buying into the bullshit that everyone on welfare or any government benefit doesn't even WANT to work or pay taxes. Its a LIE!

red.marcy.rand topcommenter

@trishholmeide Exactly. Thanks. Your a rare voice of sanity around here.

red.marcy.rand topcommenter

Numbskull, Ayn Rand had paid taxes here in the USA for FORTY years before Medicare became law so it was not hypocritical of her take benefits from a compulsory program.

By your wacko logic libertarians should not use roads or freeways or the water supply or schools or the post office because the government has assumed a monopoly of these services.

Rand told her followers to accept unemployment insurance and what ever else they could get out of the government. They'd be fools not to. She wasn't into altruism.

You are one dumb ass !

red.marcy.rand topcommenter

According to IRS figures half of all Americans are not paying federal income tax. The Washington Post, no rightist paper, has been covering this for a long time.

California has a third of all the welfare cases in the country.

The last thing we need here in SF is a third version of Big Bruce's BG or the Gammon Gazette, formerly known as the East Bay Express.

Maybe an ALTERNATIVE paper would be nice !

mrericsir topcommenter

@red.marcy.rand First of all, way to miss the entire point of the article.

Secondly, we had an "alternative" paper, it was called the Examiner. It was a flop.

red.marcy.rand topcommenter

@mrericsir No, I didn't miss the point at all, it was the standard Left BS. No, the Examiner was a neocon paper and not an alternative.

Even less so now.

mrericsir topcommenter

@red.marcy.rand Ayn Rand, of course, lived off medicare and social security. So forgive me if I don't take advice from hypocrites.

red.marcy.rand topcommenter

@mrericsir YES. More than 50% of Americans do NOT pay Federal income tax and that has been true for several years.

Romney's 47% figure is on the low side. These people may pay social security or sales but not federal income taxes. If they have any taken out it's refunded in the spring and now a great many don't even file. The top 1% pay 40-50% of all taxes, federal and state. We have a producer class and a parasite class and I know which class a great many Obama Cultists are in. Read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and Economic Controversies by Murray Rothbard.