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Americans far from independent

What if representatives from throughout the country met in Philadelphia tomorrow morning to write a new Declaration of Independence – from Washington?

It was relatively easy for the nation’s founders to issue the original declaration in 1776. For the most part, our ancestors relied on England only for defense, mechanisms of local government and markets for our goods. The founders decided we could defend ourselves against the Indians, set up our own governments and, if necessary, find new places to sell our goods.

No problem.

But the crown and parliament in 1776 were not as ingenious as Congress, the president and the federal bureaucracy 240 years later.

Here’s how dependent we are on the government in Washington:

* Nearly 63 million Americans receive Social Security or Supplemental Security Income checks every month.

* About 55.5 million rely on Medicare for health insurance.

* Another 72.4 million depend on Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Of that number, as many as 16 million were added as a result of Obamacare – one of the biggest increases in dependence in our history.

* Around 44.4 million people eat only by the grace of Washington. That’s the number of Americans receiving food stamps.

* A study in 2013 determined 105.8 million Americans were working in year-round, full time jobs. At the same time, 109.6 million were receiving some form of government benefits.

* Let’s not forget the most dependent of all Americans, the 16.6 million working full time for the federal government.

* Even working people and their families can be dependent. About 27 million received the earned income tax credit in 2015.

* Uncle Sam gets his hooks into Americans quickly. About 8.2 million college students wouldn’t be on campus without Pell Grants.

* Not so long ago, we remained fairly independent. A study intended to eliminate overlap (people benefitting from more than one federal program) determined 95.5 million Americans relied on Social Security, the earned income tax credit or Pell Grants in 2013. In 1975 the number was 39.5 million.

* By one estimate, 70 percent of what Washington spends makes us more dependent on government. We call them “entitlements.”

* Most states are so reliant on federal funds there’s no way their officials would want to go it alone.

Well over $4.5 billion of what the state of West Virginia spends each year comes from Washington. In Ohio, it’s about $20.5 billion.

* Here’s the true genius of what Uncle Sam has done: He’s made us dependent on him giving us back our own money and running up a credit card account in our names.

Don’t forget, every dime of real money the government spends comes out of our pockets or through borrowing. How do you suppose nations such as China and Japan, among our biggest foreign creditors, would react to a new American Revolution?

King George was an amateur. It was relatively easy for the colonists to sever ties with London.

But a Declaration of Independence from Washington? Forget it. We passed that point of no return decades ago.

Mike Myer can be reached at mmyer@theintelligencer.net.

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