Julia: Obama's Entitlement Darling

I would like to thank the Obama administration for validating the premise of my last column (“Our Entitlement Addiction”). In case you forgot, in the column I declared that today’s poster children for our Entitlement Society are the two recent winners of million dollar lotteries in the state of Michigan—Amanda Clayton and Leroy Fick—who enthusiastically continued receiving their state welfare after winning their fortunes.

However, it seems that President Obama has awarded the Entitlement Society poster-child job to “Julia.” With their moronic "The Life of Julia" slideshow, the Obama administration paints a perfect picture (a "clear manifestation" if you will) of the entitlement culture they wish not only to maintain, but amazingly, grow.

In the sideshow—I mean slideshow, we first see Julia at age three enrolled in the pre-k Head Start program. Head Start, which began as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s Entitlement Society—I mean Great Society, is a “Great” example of a federal program that we pour billions of taxpayer dollars into, that accomplishes almost nothing it set out to, and will be virtually impossible to get rid of.

Time Magazine’s Joe Klein said last year that after 45 years, “We spend more than $7 billion providing Head Start to nearly 1 million children each year. And finally there is indisputable evidence about the program's effectiveness, provided by the Department of Health and Human Services: Head Start simply does not work.” In other words, children who attend Head Start perform no better than students of similar income and social status who did not attend.

Like so many other government “programs,” Head Start has devolved into a jobs, healthcare, and childcare “program,” and thus its continued popularity. Many liberals even acknowledge this. “The argument that Head Start opponents make is that it is a jobs program,” a senior Obama Administration official told Klein, “and sadly, there is something to that.”

Julia then embarks on her K-12 academic career, where the federal government has had about as much success as it has with pre-k. According to the Cato Institute, since 1970, while inflation-adjusted federal spending for 17-year-olds (as Cato notes, “The final years of high school are the decisive ones…”) increased nearly 200%, math, reading, and science scores were virtually flat-lined.

We are then told of how Julia benefits from the fruits of Obamacare, which includes remaining on her parents’ insurance until age 26. Just what our youth need—further motivation to put off adulthood and responsibility! Finally able to stand on her own at age 27, Julia is thankful that Obamacare requires her health insurance to cover her birth control. Of course, there is no mention of marriage or a husband.

But there is mention of a child. We are told that at age 31, Julia decides to have a child and that “Throughout her pregnancy, she benefits from maternal checkups, prenatal care, and free screenings under health care reform.” In this one sentence we get the clearest picture of the absurd liberal mindset. Because of her government (especially President Obama), Julia is the beneficiary of “free” health screenings. There is no mention of any costs; no mention of taxes or who exactly is paying for Julia’s “free” screenings.

As she nears retirement age, Julia also is able to take advantage of Medicare and Social Security. This is encouraging news for all of us, because by this time Julia has reached her mid-sixties (This puts us around the year 2075.). Given that both programs currently have well over a hundred trillion dollars in unfunded mandates, and neither party seems serious about significant reforms for either, I will be very exited to see President Obama’s plan to ensure that both are still around as we approach the 22nd century.

There is plenty more in the life of Julia that reveals her dependence on her government. In fact, throughout her sad life she never really grows up. She is revealed to be little more than a child nursing on the big bosom of the state. Is this really how the Obama administration sees women? Where is the feminist outrage? Then again, she does fit the bill when it comes to modern feminism; all that is missing from Julia’s sorry existence is a couple of taypayer–funded abortions!

Now that Mitt Romney has a virtual lock on the GOP nomination, the 2012 presidential campaign is officially underway. “The Life of Julia” is one of the first salvos in what is sure to be a brutal campaign. Romney has got to be encouraged. With more efforts like this, he will have very little to do to show undecided America Obama’s vision for the future. I just hope that there aren’t too many Julias out there who vote.

Copyright 2012, Trevor Grant Thomas

At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason.
Trevor and his wife Michelle are the authors of: Debt Free Living in a Debt Filled World
tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com