From the web site UPI.com comes this news: The recession-driven safety net of government benefits is at a record high, as $1 of every $6 of U.S. income is a government payment, an analysis showed.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis said benefits such as Social Security, food stamps, unemployment insurance and healthcare accounted for 16.2 percent of personal income during the first quarter of this year, the highest since the government began compiling records in 1929, USA Today reported Thursday.
Federal data indicate government spending on benefits will top $2 trillion in 2009, averaging $17,000 provided to each U.S. household. Benefits rose at a 19 percent annual rate in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the last three months of 2008. Full detail of story here: