This time at the Fiscal Times and Hot Air.
In February, households received more than $2.3 trillion in income support from unemployment benefits, Social Security, disability insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans’ benefits, education assistance and other cash transfers of government funds to individuals. In the same month, households paid $2.2 trillion in income, payroll, and other taxes.
The government didn’t hand out $2.3 trillion and collect $2.2 trillion in February. Those numbers are obviously wrong for one month. I know the budget is out of control but it’s not that bad yet. The government’s own revenue estimate for the whole year is “only” $2.174 trillion.
Maybe someone should let Hot Air know.
The sudden loss of employment is horrible. However I have a question: How would removing funds from the ledgers of employers in the form of unemployment taxes do anything but accelerate the problem of job loss?
I want at least one economic planner to explain how this works. It’s as if they’re saying that laid-off workers and people who can’t find employment are two different things, when they are clearly all “jobless” people.