By Glen Meakem
A version of this article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review
December 6, 2009

During his speech at West Point this week, President Obama described the war in Afghanistan as a “war of necessity” and called for a “surge” of 30,000 American troops.  But, among the reasons why he limited this surge to only eighteen months is his concern over its extreme cost — $45 billion.  Within minutes of the speech, other liberal Democrats were expressing concern about the tremendous cost of the new surge and threatening to oppose it.

For almost a decade, liberals have complained that the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is unsustainable.  But, our government spends much more on public assistance programs in a single year than it does on the wars.  In 2008, taxpayers spent $714 billion on various means tested welfare programs versus $145 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Since the beginning of President Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty” in 1964, American taxpayers have spent $16 trillion (inflation adjusted 2008 dollars) on supporting programs for low income people.  In contrast, American taxpayers have spent a total of $6 trillion (again in 2008 inflation adjusted dollars) on all of America’s wars combined.

In return for the $6 trillion America invested in wars, we earned individual and national liberty, an end to slavery, a unified country across the North American continent, victory over multiple totalitarian tyrants and a more secure world.  But what have we earned in return for our $16 trillion investment in poverty programs?  In 1964, there were approximately 36 million people in America receiving welfare aid.  By 2007, that number had increased to 39 million.  And the amount we are spending per person in inflation adjusted 2007 dollars increased from $1,516 in 1964 to $16,840.  Under President Obama’s current policies, by 2014 American taxpayers will be spending $1 trillion per year on welfare programs.  Today, people on government assistance in America receive free cash, food, housing, medical care and even cell phones.  The standard of living of America’s poor has increased dramatically since 1964, but family breakdown, crime and dependency have exploded.

In 1964, only 7% of American children were born into single-parent homes.  Today, 40% are born to unwed mothers, and children raised without their biological fathers living in their homes are much more likely to be poor and abused than children raised by their Mom and Dad.  This is true across all racial and ethnic groups.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 64% of children with unmarried parents, and 31% of children with divorced parents grow up in poverty.  But only 8.4% of children in two-parent families grow up poor.

In our major cities and some rural areas, half of all kids do not graduate from high school and many of these drop outs go onto public assistance or end up in jail as young adults.  The vast majority of kids who grow up on public assistance fail to form two-parent families and then their children are raised without fathers on public assistance.  Taxpayer funded welfare in America is marketed by liberals as a “safety net,” but in reality it has become a multi-generation way of life.

For taxpayers to support this way of life to the tune of $1 trillion per year –far more than we spend on defense in a dangerous world and almost as much as we spend on supporting elderly Americans through Social Security and Medicare — is clearly unsustainable.  We need all American adults of able mind and body to contribute to our society by working (inside or outside the home), supporting their own families, and raising their own children.  More women and men must step to the plate by getting and staying married.

In the coming years, once conservatives regain control of our government, we must enact policies that enable American adults to take responsibility for their own futures and their own children.  We can afford the time and money to win “a war of necessity.”  What we cannot afford, what is truly unsustainable, is our growing culture of dependence.