Ten Most Harmful Government Programs

1. Social Security

SCORE: 155

STARTED WHEN: 1935

BY WHOM: President Franklin Roosevelt and a Democratic Congress.

WHY: To replace the family with the federal government as the principal means of providing financially for seniors who lack the savings to sustain themselves.

WHAT IT DOES: The government imposes a 12.4% tax on the first $94,200 in income earned by every worker. Half of this tax, 6.2%, is paid by the employee and is shown on his paycheck as a deduction. The other 6.2% is paid by the employer and is not shown on a worker's paycheck. However, as conservative economists point out, it also effectively comes from the worker as it is part of the cost the employer incurs on his behalf. The program has socialized the retirement of Americans, making most seniors financially dependent on payments that the federal government may alter, decrease or even cancel. Democrats routinely and demagogically use this fact to their political advantage. Benefits for current retirees are paid by those still working. When the system was founded, there were 42 working taxpayers per beneficiary. Today, there are about three. In 25 years, there will be about two. President Bush made a valiant effort last year to begin reforming the system with a proposal that included allowing workers to create small personal retirement accounts with a minimal segment of their Social Security tax. Democrats uniformly opposed the idea.

COST: Social Security collected $657.7 billion in taxes in 2004 and paid out $501.6 billion in benefits. Congress spent every penny of the $156.1-billion Social Security surplus on non-Social Security items. The Social Security Administration says the program faces $4 trillion in unfunded liabilities over the next 75 years.

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION: No response from the Social Security Administration.

2. Medicare

SCORE: 103 points

STARTED WHEN: 1965

BY WHOM: President Lyndon B. Johnson and a Democratic Congress.

WHY: To provide federally funded health insurance to seniors.

WHAT IT DOES: The government imposes a 2.9% Medicare tax on all income earned by workers. Half is paid directly by the worker, the other half is paid by employers. In return, the government provides seniors with hospital insurance, or Medicare Part A, which pays for hospital and hospice care. Also, for a modest premium, seniors receive supplementary medical insurance, or Medicare Part B, which pays physicians' fees and outpatient care. Part D, President Bush's Medicare prescription drug plan, became effective this year (and last year was enrolled in the HUMAN EVENTS Government Program Hall of Shame). It covers much of the cost of drugs for seniors on Medicare. These programs have socialized health care for seniors, making them dependent on the government not only for their income, but also for their medical coverage. Medicare covered 41.7 million people in 2004.

COST: In 1966, according to the Office of Management and Budget, Medicare cost $64 million.

Republicans predicted its costs would increase enormously. In 2007, it is estimated it will to cost $392 billion. By 2011, its projected cost is $494 billion. The Government Accountability Office estimates Medicare faces $28 trillion in unfunded liabilities over the next 75 years.

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION: No response from Medicare.

3. Income Tax Withholding

SCORE: 102 points

STARTED WHEN: 1935 and 1943

BY WHOM: President Franklin Roosevelt and a Democratic Congress

WHY: Roosevelt and his Democrat Congress vastly expanded the number of Americans who owed income taxes when they imposed a "Victory Tax" of 5% on all incomes over $624 in 1942. Because they feared that low- and middle-income workers might not pay the new tax unless it was withheld from their wages, Congress enacted the Current Tax Payment Act in 1943. This program is linked to this year's No. 1 Most Harmful Program, Social Security, because the Social Security Act of 1935 paved the way for the withholding of income taxes by mandating the withholding of Social Security taxes.

WHAT IT DOES: Compels employers to withhold income and payroll taxes from workers' paychecks and pay the money directly to the federal government each quarter before tax returns are actually filed. It allows the government to extract far more revenue from workers than would be politically feasible if workers paid the tax directly. In a study for the Cato Institute, Charlotte Twight noted: "[Withholding is the paramount administrative mechanism enabling the federal government to collect, without significant protest, sufficient private resources to fund a vastly expanded welfare state."

COST: According to the OMB, Americans will pay $1.76 trillion in individual income and payroll taxes in 2006.

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION: The 16th Amendment, which authorizes an income tax.

4. McCain-Feingold

SCORE: 101

STARTED WHEN: 2002

BY WHOM: President George W. Bush, even while doubting its constitutionality, signed a law sponsored by Senators John McCain (R.-Ariz.) and Russ Feingold (D.-Wis.) and Representatives Chris Shays (R.-Conn.) and Marty Meehan (D.-Mass.).