There are 79 means tested programs for the poor and low income

Lumped together they loosely comprise “welfare” in the jargon of the people, but that means jobs for government workers.

There are 79 means tested programs to help the poor and low income and about 49% of that is medical and most goes to children, disabled and elderly. Only 8% for able bodied, working age adults. So good luck at cutting anything. It's about $19,000 for EACH American counted as "poor" by the Census. About 6% of the budget is for those "welfare" type programs, and 4.8 % of GDP for social security (Medicare is going to pass SS in 2040). We've all paid into Social Security, Medicare, and worker’s compensation, so many people don't like the word "entitlement" for those, even though we are entitled to them through our contributions. http://www.heritage.org/.../examining-the-means-tested...