Political Concept
In the United States, as of 2013, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and some other government benefits and payments which are part of the welfare state are called "entitlements", particularly by the right wing.
Technically speaking, a government "entitlement program" refers to one where the amount of spending is determined by the number of people who are eligible for it (and follow its rules). For example, the amount of outlays on the U.S. government's food-stamp program (now known as SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) depends on the number of eligible people. (See http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/applicant_recipients/eligibility.htm.) However, many conservative politicians and pundits use the word in a pejorative way.
Read more about this topic: Entitled
Famous quotes containing the words political and/or concept:
“The science, the art, the jurisprudence, the chief political and social theories, of the modern world have grown out of Greece and Rome—not by favor of, but in the teeth of, the fundamental teachings of early Christianity, to which science, art, and any serious occupation with the things of this world were alike despicable.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)
“I was thinking what an interesting concept it is to eliminate the writer from the artistic process. If we can just get rid of these actors and directors, maybe we got something here.”
—Michael Tolkin, U.S. screenwriter, and Robert Altman. Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins)