It’s all ‘free’

What will we do when there's nobody left in the private sector to cover the government handouts?

Despite warnings that a constantly expanding entitlement state cannot survive in the long term, new government statistics indicate the United States continues careening down that unsustainable path.

In 2010, USA Today reported Tuesday, a record 18.3 percent of the nation's total personal income was not actually income, at all. Instead, it was a payment from the government in some form or another.

In addition, the newspaper reported, real wages accounted for just 51 percent of all income in 2010, the lowest share recorded since the government began keeping track in 1929.

Couple this with the fact that about 47 percent of Americans paid no federal income tax in 2009, and it becomes frighteningly apparent why easing off the accelerator when it comes to federal spending has become politically dangerous.

"You've got a larger and larger share of people paying less and less for the services provided by the federal government," Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, told CBS News. "The concern is that the majority can say, 'Let's have more benefits, spend more,' if they're not paying for it. It's 'free.' That's not a good thing to have."

No, it's not. So why have so many Americans decided it's precisely what they desire?