Robert Samuelson Thinks Its Unfair That Rich Bondholders Get Interest Payments from the Government

That is what one can logically conclude from his complaint that 43 percent of federal government expenditures go to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, programs that disproportionately benefit the elderly. The reason that a disproportionate share of government spending goes to these programs is that a disproportionate share of tax revenue is dedicated to these programs. More than 34 percent of federal revenue is in the form of the dedicated Social Security and Medicare tax that covers most of the cost of these programs. Most people might think that the source of the tax revenue is relevant for spending priorities and therefore should be mentioned in any discussion of spending, but apparently Mr. Samuelson does not hold this view. Therefore, we can infer that he is outraged that the government is giving tens of billions of dollars to a small number of wealthy people every year while just parceling out chump change to poor children. The fact that these wealthy people happen to have bought large amounts of government bonds would be an irrelevant factor in Mr. Samuelson's world view.

--Dean Baker