(11-10-2018, 03:14 PM)MalabarJag Wrote:

(11-10-2018, 02:29 PM)mikesez Wrote: I don't think that's an apples-to-apples comparison. I think they're using a very broad definition of government welfare when they look at the legal immigrants and a very narrow definition when they're looking at the native born. When you count payments from Social Security, SSID, EITC,and Medicare, the portion of native-born that collect money from the government is about 50%.

They use the same definitions for welfare. The illegal percentage (62%) is an estimate because most illegals won't answer such questions. It's supposedly within +/- 5% (nice that a researcher actually included error ranges).

Social Security and Medicare are not welfare in any sense. They are programs where retirees get back what they had taken previously. It's debatable whether or not someone gets back more or less, but a return on forced investment is the gist of it. Only a Leftist would lump them in with programs that are basically just giveaways of other people's money.

Only a Sith speaks in absolutes.
Anyhow.
Yes, it's true that not everyone over 65 automatically gets social security or Medicare; it's true that one needs to have worked in this country for a number of years to fully qualify. But it's also true that legal immigrants, other than refugees, have to work for a number of years before they collect other forms of welfare.
It's also true that social security and Medicare have been paying out at actuarially unsustainable levels, so, they are partially welfare.

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