Obama Will Spend More on Welfare in the Next Year Than Bush Spent on Entire Iraq War, Study Reveals (independent, economic)

[Jadex]

CNSNews.com - Obama Will Spend More on Welfare in the Next Year Than Bush Spent on Entire Iraq War, Study Reveals (http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/54400 - broken link)

[delusianne]

The heritage.org article summary says, "Means-tested welfare spending was 1.2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) when Presi dent Johnson began the War on Poverty. In 2008, it reached 5 percent of GDP...Total means-tested spending is likely to average roughly 6 percent of GDP for the next decade."

The full report (http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/upload/SR_67.pdf - broken link) says,

The federal government funds over 70 interrelated means-tested programs through four independent agencies7
and nine departments: Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, Treasury,
Commerce, Energy, Interior, and Education. Altogether, these programs provide cash, food, housing, medical care,
social services, job training, community development funds, and targeted education aid to low-income persons and
communities. A list of all means-tested welfare programs and the spending on each program in FY 2008 is provided
in Appendix C.

State governments also fund welfare. Although some state governments finance small independent welfare
programs, most means-tested spending by state governments takes the form of fiscal contributions (matching
funds) to federal welfare programs. For the most part, these state contributions are required by federal law. State
matching funds are an important adjunct to the federal welfare system. Since state governments contribute fiscally
to federal welfare programs and in many cases actually administer those programs, it is necessary to examine federal
and state spending and operations together in order to understand the size and scope of the overall welfare
system.
Total federal and state spending on means-tested aid was $653.4 billion in FY 2007. This record level of spending
was the result of a steady growth in welfare benefits over preceding decades rather than a temporary surge in
expenditures due to short-term economic conditions. In FY 2008 (the last full year of the Bush Administration),
total federal and state means-tested spending rose to an estimated $714.1 billion. In FY 2009, spending will rise
to $780.7 billion.

This list above also includes the refundable portion of the EITC.

[delusianne]

Jadex, it's not you, but that article title is misleading.

Bush spent $622B on the Iraq war and in 2008 alone (see above) $714B on "welfare".