<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><br><div><div>On Mar 27, 2014, at 1:46 PM, Adrienne Ross wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252"><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><br></div><div>from NYTimes 3-27-14</div><div><br></div><header id="story-header" class="story-header" style="position: relative; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div class="story-meta" style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><h3 class="kicker" style="font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1rem; font-weight: 300; margin: 0px 0px 24px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.075em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><span class="kicker-label" style="font-size: 1.25rem; line-height: 1.5rem; text-transform: none; "><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/pages/opinion/index.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The Opinion Pages</a></span><span class="pipe" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0px 10px 0px 8px; vertical-align: text-bottom;">|</span>OP-ED COLUMNIST</h3><h1 itemprop="headline" class="story-heading" style="font-size: 2rem; line-height: 2.25rem; font-weight: 500; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">A Nation of Takers?</h1><div class="story-meta-footer" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); padding-top: 2px;"><p class="byline-dateline" style="margin: 4px 45px 0px 0px; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; float: left; "><time class="dateline" datetime="2014-03-26" style="font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">MARCH 26, 2014</time></p><div class="inside-story" style="float: right; height: 36px;"><ul class="inside-story-menu" style="margin: 0px; list-style: none; padding-left: 0px;"></ul></div></div></div></header><div class="lede-container" style="float: none; clear: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div class="lede-container-ads" style="float: right; clear: right;"><div id="MiddleRight" class="ad middle-right-ad marginalia-anchor-ad" style="float: right; clear: right; margin: 0px 0px 40px 7px; position: relative; min-width: 300px; min-height: 250px;"><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/27/opinion/kristof-a-nation-of-takers.html?ref=opinion&_r=0#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe frameborder="0" class="ad-frame frame-for-article" style="border-width: 0px; width: 300px; height: 600px; "></iframe></div></div></div><div class="extended-byline" style="margin: 5px 0px 31px; float: left; clear: left; width: 90px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div class="thumb" style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/nicholasdkristof/index.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);"><span><Kristof_New-thumbLarge-v3.jpg></span></a></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1rem; font-weight: 700; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center; "><span itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemid="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/nicholasdkristof/index.html"><a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/nicholasdkristof/index.html" rel="author" title="More Articles by NICHOLAS KRISTOF" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Nicholas Kristof</a></span></div></div><div id="sharetools-story" aria-label="tools" role="group" class="sharetools theme-classic sharetools-story sharetools-init" data-shares="email|email,facebook,twitter,save,show-all|more,ad" data-url="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/27/opinion/kristof-a-nation-of-takers.html" data-title="A Nation of Takers?" data-description="Let’s get real about which public welfare programs are wasteful." data-publish-date="March 26, 2014" style="width: 88px; float: left; clear: left; margin-bottom: 15px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/27/opinion/kristof-a-nation-of-takers.html?ref=opinion&_r=0#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px; 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line-height: 1.5625rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); "><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/27/opinion/kristof-a-nation-of-takers.html?ref=opinion&_r=0" data-share="show-all" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); display: block; padding-left: 5px; margin: 3px 0px; height: 23px; text-transform: uppercase;"><i class="icon" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; font-style: normal; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140320-194120/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png); width: 16px; height: 16px; background-position: -414px -83px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"></i><span class="sharetool-text">MORE</span></a></li></ul><div class="ad sharetools-inline-article-ad" id="Frame4A"><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/27/opinion/kristof-a-nation-of-takers.html?ref=opinion&_r=0#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe frameborder="0" class="ad-frame frame-for-article" style="border-width: 0px; width: 96px; height: 60px; "></iframe></div></div><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="281" data-total-count="281" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-1" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 120px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 540px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">In the debate about poverty, critics argue that government assistance saps initiative and is unaffordable. After exploring the issue, I must concede that the critics have a point. Here are five public welfare programs that are wasteful and turning us into a nation of “takers.”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="317" data-total-count="598" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 120px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 540px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong style="font-weight: 700;"><em>First, welfare subsidies for private planes.</em></strong> The United States offers three kinds of subsidies to tycoons with private jets: accelerated tax write-offs, avoidance of personal taxes on the benefit by claiming that private aircraft are for security, and use of air traffic control paid for by chumps flying commercial.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="226" data-total-count="824" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 120px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 540px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">As the leftists in the George W. Bush administration <a href="http://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=8747" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145); ">put it when they tried</a>unsuccessfully to end this last boondoggle: “The family of four taking a budget vacation is subsidizing the C.E.O.’s flying on a corporate jet.”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="211" data-total-count="1035" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-4" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 120px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 540px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">I worry about those tycoons sponging off government. Won’t our pampering damage their character? Won’t they become addicted to the entitlement culture, demanding subsidies even for their yachts? Oh, wait ...</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="200" data-total-count="1235" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 120px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 540px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong style="font-weight: 700;"><em>Second, welfare subsidies for yachts.</em></strong> The mortgage-interest deduction was meant to encourage a home-owning middle class. But it has been extended to provide subsidies for beach homes <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-23/yacht-owners-seek-to-salvage-deduction-for-second-homes.html" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145); ">and even yachts</a>.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="178" data-total-count="1413" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 120px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 540px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">In the meantime, money was slashed last year from the public housing program for America’s neediest. Hmm. How about if we house the homeless in these publicly supported yachts?</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="410" data-total-count="1823" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 120px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 540px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong style="font-weight: 700;"><em>Third, welfare subsidies for hedge funds and private equity.</em></strong> The single most outrageous tax loophole in America is for “carried interest,” allowing people with the highest earnings to pay paltry taxes. They can magically <a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/house-proposal-would-raise-taxes-on-private-equity-income/" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145); ">reclassify their earned income as capital gains</a>, because that carries a lower tax rate (a maximum of 23.8 percent this year, compared with a maximum of 39.6 percent for earned income).</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="133" data-total-count="1956" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 120px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 540px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Let’s just tax capital gains at earned income rates, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/23/business/a-starting-point-for-tax-reform-what-reagan-did.html" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145); ">as we did under President Ronald Reagan</a>, that notorious scourge of capitalism.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="318" data-total-count="2274" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 120px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 540px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong style="font-weight: 700;"><em>Fourth, welfare subsidies for America’s biggest banks.</em></strong> The <a href="http://www.ny.frb.org/research/epr/2014/1403sant.pdf" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145); ">too-big-to-fail banks in the United States borrow</a> money unusually cheaply because of an implicit government promise to rescue them. <a href="http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2013-02-20/why-should-taxpayers-give-big-banks-83-billion-a-year-" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145); ">Bloomberg View calculated last year</a> that this amounts to a taxpayer subsidy of $83 billion to our 10 biggest banks annually.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="197" data-total-count="2471" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 120px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 540px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">President Obama has proposed a bank tax to curb this subsidy, and this year a top Republican lawmaker, Dave Camp, endorsed the idea as well. Big banks are lobbying like crazy to keep their subsidy.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="391" data-total-count="2862" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-5" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 120px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 540px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong style="font-weight: 700;"><em>Fifth, large welfare subsidies for American corporations from cities, counties and states.</em></strong> A bit more than a year ago, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/us/how-local-taxpayers-bankroll-corporations.html" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145); ">Louise Story of The New York Times tallied</a> more than $80 billion a year in subsidies to companies, mostly as incentives to operate locally. (Conflict alert: The New York Times Company is among those that have received millions of dollars from city and state authorities.)</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="423" data-total-count="3285" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 120px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 540px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; ">You see where I’m going. We talk about the unsustainability of government benefit programs and the deleterious effects these can have on human behavior, and these are real issues. Well-meaning programs for supporting single moms can create perverse incentives not to marry, or aid meant for a needy child may be misused to buy drugs. Let’s acknowledge that helping people is a complex, uncertain and imperfect struggle.</p><div class="ad ad-placeholder" style="float: right; clear: right; margin: 0px 0px 40px 7px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; "><div class="clearfix wrap marketing-module-legacy" style="position: relative; width: 300px !important; color: rgb(50, 104, 145) !important; border: none !important; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: left; "><div style="padding: 0px !important; "><ul class="refer" style="margin: 0px; list-style: none; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border: none !important; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px;"><li style="font-size: 0.8125rem !important; line-height: 1.0625rem !important; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif !important; position: relative; margin-left: 9px; color: rgb(50, 104, 145) !important; margin-bottom: 0px !important; "><a target="_blank" href="http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&opzn&page=www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/opinion&pos=Box1&sn2=8af52bb8/7c793f58&sn1=54b86339/feae644b&camp=nyt2014_300x250_module_Oculus_hp_ros&ad=TE-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M350d-ROS-0314&goto=http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/name-calling-in-the-virtual-playground/%3FWT.mc_id=TE-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M350d-ROS-0314-L1%26WT.mc_ev=click%26WT.mc_c=242543" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145) !important;">Name-calling in the virtual playground<br></a></li></ul></div></div></div><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="325" data-total-count="3610" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-2" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 120px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 540px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">But, perhaps because we now have <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2014/01/millionaires-club-for-first-time-most-lawmakers-are-worth-1-million-plus.html" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145); ">the wealthiest Congress in history</a>, the first in which a majority of members are millionaires, we have a one-sided discussion demanding cuts only in public assistance to the poor, while ignoring public assistance to the rich. And a one-sided discussion leads to a one-sided and myopic policy.</p><aside class="marginalia comments-marginalia selected-comment-marginalia" data-marginalia-type="sprinkled" data-skip-to-para-id="story-continues-3" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: dotted; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); width: 300px; float: right; clear: right; margin: 0px 0px 45px 7px; padding-top: 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; "><a class="visually-hidden" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/27/opinion/kristof-a-nation-of-takers.html?ref=opinion&_r=0#story-continues-3" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">Continue reading the main story</a><header><h2 class="module-heading" style="font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(50, 104, 145); text-transform: uppercase; "><i class="icon" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; font-style: normal; position: relative; width: 20px; height: 13px; background-color: rgb(135, 156, 180); border-top-left-radius: 1px; border-top-right-radius: 1px; border-bottom-right-radius: 1px; border-bottom-left-radius: 1px; margin-right: 8px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"></i><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; ">Sure, food stamps are occasionally misused, but anyone familiar with business knows that the abuse of food subsidies is far greater in the corporate suite. Every time an executive wines and dines a hot date on the corporate dime, the average taxpayer helps foot the bill.</span></h2></header></aside><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="160" data-total-count="4317" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 120px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 540px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; ">So let’s get real. To stem abuses, the first target shouldn’t be those avaricious infants in nutrition programs but tycoons in their subsidized Gulfstreams.</p><button class="button comments-button theme-speech-bubble" data-skip-to-para-id="story-continues-6" style="margin: 0px; font-size: 0.6875rem; vertical-align: middle; line-height: 0.8125rem; cursor: pointer; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-transform: uppercase; padding: 3px 15px 22px 0px; float: left; position: relative; "><a class="visually-hidden" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/27/opinion/kristof-a-nation-of-takers.html?ref=opinion&_r=0#story-continues-6" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">CONTINUE READING THE MAIN STORY</a><i class="icon" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; font-style: normal; position: relative; width: 90px; height: 55px; background-color: rgb(135, 156, 180); border-top-left-radius: 4px; border-top-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-left-radius: 4px; padding: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"></i><span class="button-text" style="display: inline-block; vertical-align: middle; margin-left: 0px; width: 86px; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; padding: 15px 2px 7px; letter-spacing: 0.05em;"><span class="count" style="font-size: 1.375rem; line-height: 1rem; font-weight: 700; display: block; ">559</span><span class="units" style="font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.6875rem; display: block; margin-top: 6px; ">COMMENTS</span></span></button><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="274" data-total-count="4591" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-6" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 120px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 540px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">However imperfectly, subsidies for the poor do actually reduce hunger, ease suffering and create opportunity, while subsidies for the rich result in more private jets and yachts. Would we rather subsidize opportunity or yachts? Which kind of subsidies deserve more scrutiny?</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="234" data-total-count="4825" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 120px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 540px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; ">Some conservatives get this, including Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma. He has urged “scaling back ludicrous handouts to millionaires that expose an entitlement system and tax code that desperately need to be reformed.”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="112" data-total-count="4937" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 120px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 540px; max-width: 540px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">After all, quite apart from the waste, we don’t want to coddle zillionaires and thereby sap their initiative!</p><footer class="story-footer story-content" style="margin-left: 120px; width: 540px; margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 45px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; "><div class="story-meta"><p class="story-print-citation" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); ">A version of this op-ed appears in print on March 27, 2014, on page A31 of the <span itemprop="printEdition">New York edition</span> with the headline: A Nation of Takers?. <span class="story-footer-links" style="display: inline-block;"><a href="https://s100.copyright.com/AppDispatchServlet?contentID=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2014%2F03%2F27%2Fopinion%2Fkristof-a-nation-of-takers.html&publisherName=The+New+York+Times&publication=nytimes.com&token=&orderBeanReset=true&postType=&wordCount=781&title=A+Nation+of+Takers%3F&publicationDate=March+26%2C+2014&author=By%20Nicholas%20Kristof" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Order Reprints</a><span class="pipe" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0px 3px;">|</span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/pages/todayspaper/index.html" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Today's Paper</a><span class="pipe" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0px 3px;">|</span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp5558.html?" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Subscribe</a></span></p></div></footer><div>
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"><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; 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text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><p style="font-family: Optima; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; margin: 0px 0px 14px; "><span style="font-size: 16px; "><font face="Baskerville" style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">--------------------------------------</font></span></p><div style="font-family: Optima; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div style="margin: 0px; "><div style="margin: 0px; "><div style="margin: 0px; "><div style="margin: 0px; "><div style="margin: 0px; "><div style="margin: 0px; "><div style="margin: 0px; "><div style="margin: 0px; "><div style="margin: 0px; "><div style="margin: 0px; "><font face="Baskerville"><span style="font-size: 13px; ">If the citizens neglect their Duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the Laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizen will be violated or disregarded. --<i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Noah Webster<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> </i></span></font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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