Zero Hedge made some interesting points about the nation’s economy and the welfare system. I won’t simply cut and paste the post he put effort in producing, so I’ll include some of his findings pulled from various agencies. I recommend reading his post.

1. For increasingly more it is now more lucrative – in the form of actual disposable income – to sit, do nothing, and collect various welfare entitlements, than to work.
2. The single mom is better off earnings gross income of $29,000 with $57,327 in net income & benefits than to earn gross income of $69,000 with net income and benefits of $57,045.
3. For every 1.65 employed persons in the private sector, 1 person receives welfare assistance
4. For every 1.25 employed persons in the private sector, 1 person receives welfare assistance or works for the government.
5. 110 million privately employed workers; 88 million welfare recipients and government workers and rising rapidly.

John Hinderaker at Power Line states the obvious.

We are constantly told that it is difficult to find any state or federal spending that can possibly be cut. This suggestion is, I think, ludicrous. Let’s start by cutting welfare, and cutting it deeply. Not only because it is wasteful, but because by devaluing work it threatens to cripple not merely our economy, but our culture. An America where you are better off cashing welfare checks than working is an America that cannot long survive.

Here is a chart from the Heritage Foundation that breaks the myth that we have a revenue problem. We have no such thing. We have a spending a problem.

I’m looking forward to the so called "balanced approach" in dealing with the fiscal cliff. But I won’t hold my breath.