And the Feds are Determined to Follow California's Shining Example

The United States of Dependency:

New reports suggest America is not only hurting economically under President Obama, but also on a dangerous road to fiscal decline and growing dependence on government. This is the real legacy of Obamanomics.

Before you shrug this off as an exaggeration or chalk it up to scare-mongering, check out the reports that have emerged in recent days suggesting just how dependent Americans have become on government largesse.

Keep in mind the money to pay for it doesn't come from the government; it comes from all of us, but especially the top 20% of incomes that pay 94% of the taxes and create virtually all of American jobs.

Here are just a few recent reports about the alarming growth in dependency:

• In the second quarter of 2011, 107 million Americans were receiving some kind of government welfare — not including Medicare or Social Security — according to a new study from the Senate Budget Committee. That's up from 97 million just over two years ago.

• In the last three months, more people have applied for Social Security disability payments than found jobs in the private sector, federal data show.

• New Census data show 43% of all immigrants remain on welfare 20 years after arriving in the U.S., a stunning statistic suggesting the old model of immigration being a path to opportunity may have broken down in the Age of Obama.

• A new economic study says almost half of Americans die with less than $10,000 in assets — a sad comment on how government has displaced personal initiative and private savings in preparing for retirement.

• IRS data show that almost half of all Americans — 49.5% of us — pay no income taxes at all.

• In today's federal budget, 70% of all spending now goes to aid for individuals such as housing, food, income, student aid or other forms of welfare.

• Still another study estimates that total U.S. long-term debt now stands at $211 trillion, up $11 trillion in just one year, thanks to growing red ink from out-of-control entitlement spending.

Let these numbers roll around in your head for a bit, and you start to realize we're now on our way to a European-style welfare state. This is the ugly reality of Obamanomics. It fosters dependency in exchange for financial security. But that security is a mirage.

The only real economic security any nation has is the strength and vitality of its private economy — not the empty, broken promises of its government.

We don't blame Obama for all of this. The trends have been growing for some time. But Obama is quite unabashed in his desire to expand the welfare state — and not just to individuals, but to businesses, as well.

Just yesterday, speaking of his government takeover of the auto industry, Obama uttered this: "Now I want to do the same thing . .. in every industry."

Frightening words, and a reminder that the president is at heart a progressive who not only doesn't mind your dependence — he counts on it.

After all, a dependent population is an obedient population. Your dependence is the progressives' power — unless and until you take it back at the ballot box.