The “Personal Energy Subsidy” No One Talks About

Members of Congress have recently been embroiled in a battle to stop what many have termed “Big Oil Company Subsidies.” These government-sponsored subsidies come in many forms, such as corporate tax breaks for common expense tax write-offs, and for depletion of equipment costs. Keep in mind, that these same tax breaks are also given to every other manufacturer in America, not just Big Oil Companies. Randall Hoven outlines the situation precisely in an article titled About Those Oil Subsidies.

The Big Oil subsidy outcry is just another ploy by the American left to bash the very fossil fuel that has been the main producer of affordable energy in America ever since the invention of the various versions of electricity generators and the subsequent evolution of the energy industry. As with any production company, the free market energy system is based on competition-driven cost controls, where affordability is job one. Allow big government to completely control the energy industry and the results will be higher prices for everyone who can afford to pay, while also using it as a tool for stealth wealth redistribution and vote-buying to stay in power. Now that the big government myth about the big oil companies not paying their fair share has been busted wide open, and some of the reasons behind that power grab have been theorized, let’s take a look at one of the biggest energy subsidies ever handed out by the U.S. Government. Personal, welfare-dependence-driven energy subsidies that cost U.S taxpayers billions of dollars every year.

In a democratic society, fairness, and equality are supposed to be the cornerstone of the system. When certain groups or sectors of society are given preference over another one by a government through the usage of tax dollars, this becomes a blatant example of taxation without representation. ( of ALL people not just some of them) Other words that may be used to describe this scenario may include Fascism, tyranny, socialism, and political oppression.  So how can big government manipulators explain why one sector of American society has to pay for their utility usage, while another very large sector receives a personal energy subsidy from the U.S. Government that the rest of society is made to pay for?

While the oil companies “subsidies,” which are in fact tax breaks, have been put at around $4 billion dollars a year, how much do the personal energy subsidies cost the taxpayer each year?   All states have their own personal energy subsidy programs, which are at least partly funded by federal tax dollars. The website Welfare Info is a good place to explore the current welfare system, and just what government “subsidies” the career welfare class receives.

[Note: There is a big difference between an American tax-paying, energy producing company getting legal tax breaks (unjustly termed “subsidies” by the leftists and enviro-terrorists) and a non-producing, non-taxpaying career welfare sector receiving personal energy subsidies to pay their utility bills at the expense of the working class in America.]

From the above welfare info site, the following personal energy subsidies are outlined as follows: (emphasis added)

Another of the welfare programs is the energy or utility assistance program which is intended to help those who cannot afford to pay for basic utility needs, such as heat, electricity and/or gas and water. Like the child support program, it will supplement part of or provide 100% of the monthly utility costs.

Although the state by state personal energy subsidy programs are unique, they all contain on commonality: One sector of American society is being made to pay for another sector’s energy bills through government programs, many of them consisting of utility companies forming “partnership programs” with state and local governments. So who qualifies for  these taxpayer-funded personal energy subsidies? Can a non-U.S. citizen have their utility bill paid by U.S. taxpayers, or receive other welfare payments ?

Again from Welfare Info: (emphasis added) “You must be a citizen of the United States or a qualified non-citizen legal resident, (restrictions apply).” So, not only are U.S. taxpayers being made to subsidize career welfare people’s personal energy bills, they are also being made to subsidize what amounts to payments to criminal illegal aliens who broke the law while entering the United States.

Again, how much do these personal energy subsidies cost the U.S. taxpayer?  The fact is, that the big government bureaucracy now has so many personal energy subsidy programs that it is all but impossible to put a total cost to the taxpayers on it, which appears to be have done by design over decades of nanny-state planning and dependency program creation. Utibility Bill Assistance  has a complete rundown of state by state personal energy subsidy programs, along with this explanation about another pair of federal personal energy subsidy programs:

There is also a federal program to provide utility bill assistance. The National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association is a primary educational & policy organization for the state and other organizations of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which is often referred to as LIHEAP. LIHEAP is a federal government program that provides grants to states to help struggling with assistance on their their electric, heating and cooling utility bills.

In addition to LIHEAP, another program available is the weatherization program, which over 5 million Americans have taking advantage of, and which can save over $300 per year in utility bill costs. ( several spelling corrections made)

When discussing taxpayer-funded “subsidies” and entitlement programs, the Liberal nanny-state worshipers have proven incapable of seperating retired, career-taxpaying Senior citizens receiving SSI payments ( and in some cases personal energy subsidies) from the non-producing, non-taxpaying career welfare sector of society. This is done to obscure the facts that tax dollars have been used to create a welfare dependency in America in exchange for the welfare class vote, which is the base of today’s Liberal Democratic party. Liberal political operatives disgustingly disrespect working-class Seniors by lumping them in with the non-producing welfare class, in an attempt to falsely paint themselves as champions of the poor.

In summary, should America end all energy subsidies, as Democrats have been demanding in Congress recently? That would have to include ending the above-explained personal energy subsidies, along with the Democrat-sponsored green energy fraud and power-mongering usage of taxpayer dollars to spread misinformation designed to keep them in power by enriching their crony-capitalists and tax dollar thieves as was seen in the Solyndra scandal.  To end all energy subsidies would in fact crush the base of today’s fake Democrats, their environmental green energy fear-mongering, and their welfare-dependent vote begging fraud they have hoisted upon the American people under the guise of “helping them.”

Footnote: While several personal energy subsidy programs do indeed help deserving people cope with today’s skyrocketing energy prices, as Barack Obama promised America during his 2008 election campaign, the creation of the welfare class dependency in America has deteriorated family values, work ethics and the very foundation of American exceptional-ism, personal responsibility and the idea of working for what you want out of life. For a very serious look at some of the results of this systemic destruction of American values, please see The Ugly truth of America’s Welfare Class.