"Under our progressive income tax system, the top 5 percent of all earners pay more than 60 percent of the take, according to the National Taxpayers Union, which notes that the top 50 percent pays 97 percent. Some 43 million primarily low-income filers of tax returns owe no income tax at all, the Tax Foundation says. And 21 million families that don't pay the tax are getting some $36 billion in refunds through the Earned Income Tax Credit.

From an economist named Gary Shilling, we learn that 52.6 percent of us get a hefty portion of our incomes from government.

A news story on Shilling's findings says that some of this money comes from government jobs or jobs dependent on government programs. It also comes from such programs as Social Security, food stamps and subsidized housing.

Economics commentator Robert Samuelson notes that defense spending now constitutes just 20 percent of the budget even when you add in the Iraq war, whereas spending on programs transferring money to the poor and elderly constitutes 60 percent of the budget.

Obama, whose domestic spending plans add up to far more billions than he can possibly pay for without draconian tax increases, also wrings his hands about how little foreign aid we give. He wants to double the amount even though the government already gives far more than any other country, even though our private contributions to foreign countries far exceed the governmental assistance, even though aid sometimes risks abetting oppression..." -- Jay Ambrose