Entitlements Quotes

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury

Nothing of value is free.

Democrats believe, plausibly, that middle-class entitlements are instantly addictive and, because there is no known detoxification, that class, when facing future choices between trimming entitlements or increasing taxes, will choose the latter.

The notion of human right builds on our shared humanity. These rights are not derived from the citizenship of any country, or the membership of any nation, but are presumed to be claims or entitlements of every human being. They differ, therefore, from constitutionally created rights guaranteed for specific people.

Conservatism is a hard choice for a society that has become accustomed to big government and big entitlements promoted by liberals.

It is extremely difficult to rescind entitlements to which people think they are legally entitled. Taxes can easily go up and down. There isn’t the same political pressure.

What begins in Washington as simple, garden-variety grasping becomes an entitlement, the argument being that the longer the benefit has lived, the more the beneficiaries have built their lives around it, so ending it would be disruptive.

What the government gives it must first take away.

The Democrats generally recoil from the subject of entitlements.

You never get what you deserve; only what you have the leverage to negotiate.

There’s a mal-distribution in wealth in this country. Entitlements end up going to the rich anyway. Some of them should be attacked. The ones who rip us off, the ones who get bailed out.

The rise of democracy was driven by the citizens' desire to escape from the paternalistic and arbitrary charity of those with money. They accomplished this by replacing charity with a fair, balanced, arm's-length system of public obligation. The principle tool of that obligation was taxation.

Social Security and Medicare are among the best things about America.

Denmark must not be the social security office for the rest of the world.

There is a yawning discrepancy of what Americans expect and for what they are willing to pay.

Men trade unionists are accused of sex privilege and prejudice ... A belief in the divine right of every man to his job is not peculiar to kings and capitalists, and men in organized trades are not disposed to share these advantages with a host of women competitors.

We must treat each man on his worth and merits as a man. We must see that each is given a square deal, because he is entitled to no more and should receive no less.

The story of America is the story of an ever widening circle of human care and responsibility.

Don’t tell me that it is tough. It is at least as tough as you think it is. But what is the alternative? It is to do nothing?

Entitlement programs are on autopilot. I’m alarmed. We’re close to the danger zone.

The expectation of paternal care on the part of Government ... weakens the sturdiness of our national character.

55 percent of the national budget consists of entitlements. These are established by law but do not get funds appropriated annually—not part of the usual give and take of the Congress and the administration. If you meet the criteria of the law, you get the money.

The great vice of democracy --- a vice which is exacting a bitter retribution from it at this moment - is that for a generation we have been busy getting ourselves on to the list of beneficiaries and removing ourselves from the list of contributors, as if somewhere there was somebody else's wealth and somebody else's effort on which we could thrive.

For too long the development debate has ignored the fact that poverty tends to be characterized not only by material insufficiency but also by denial of rights. What is needed is a rights-based approach to development. Ensuring essential political, economic and social entitlements and human dignity for all people provides the rationale for policy. These are not a luxury affordable only to the rich and powerful but an indispensable component of national development efforts.

Today, I see that many of our citizens are not free. They are dependent.