Every once in a while you hear something that so rocks your world that you sit in your driveway, groceries melting, glued to the radio in utter disbelief, terrifed for your children. That happened to me today when I heard Rush talk about the full, stunning extent of the size of and growth of the welfare state in this country. I’ve never heard the whole truth laid out like this before.

The size of the welfare state grew by seven percent last year alone under Obama, but he can't take all the blame. The obscene acceleration in the growth of the welfare state began under Bush and the GOP in 2000.

Rush’s breakdown will blow you mind. Here’s CNN’s article for those who’d rather read the original source. The gist from CNN is that more than a third of Americans now live in households receiving government assistance AND THAT’S NOT COUNTING MEDICARE OR SOCIAL SECURITY. Medicaid and food stamps are the most popular programs. And when Social Security, Medicare and unemployment benefits are included, nearly half of the nation lived in a household that received a government check.

Here’s the meat of the story, from the Heritage Foundation:

The 2012 Index of Dependence on Government, released today, should be a wake-up call for America. Published by The Heritage Foundation for the past 10 years, the Index tracks the growth in government dependence dating back to the early 1960s. This year’s edition shows an alarming trend. Among the most troubling facts:

  • One in five Americans—the highest in the nation’s history—relies on the federal government for everything from housing, health care, and food stamps to college tuition and retirement assistance. That’s more than 67.3 million Americans who receive subsidies from Washington.
  • Government dependency jumped 8.1 percent in the past year, with the most assistance going toward housing, health and welfare, and retirement.
  • The federal government spent more taxpayer dollars than ever before in 2011 to subsidize Americans. The average individual who relies on Washington could receive benefits valued at $32,748, more than the nation’s average disposable personal income ($32,446).
  • At the same time, nearly half of the U.S. population (49.5 percent) does not pay any federal income taxes.
  • In the next 25 years, more than 77 million baby boomers will retire. They will begin collecting checks from Social Security, drawing benefits from Medicare, and relying on Medicaid for long-term care.
  • As of now, 70 percent of the federal government’s budget goes to individual assistance programs, up dramatically in just the past few years. However, research shows that private, community, and charitable aid helps individuals rise from their difficulties with better success than federal government handouts. Plus, local and private aid is often more effectively distributed.

This much dependence on government has not been seen before in our nation, and it spells grave danger for the republic. A dose of reality would inform politicians that federal handouts, while politically expedient, will doom the republic if they are not curtailed.

I’ll ask you what I ask you so often. How on earth do you think this story ends? We can’t keep this up forever.