What is Corporate Welfare?

People have been cheating the welfare system for decades, from buying cigarettes to alcohol when they should have been using that money to buy oatmeal and breakfast cereal.

But no one spends welfare money irresponsibly quite like corporations. While the taxpayers spend $59 billion a year on social welfare, that's nowhere near the $92 billion a year that is spent on corporate welfare. Seventy billion dollars of that goes to gas and oil companies alone.

Through loopholes and legal jargon, these companies are able to get subsidies for just about anything. Private aircraft is a great example; through claiming that the aircraft is for security reasons, they are able to avoid personal taxes as well as use air traffic control funded ticket purchases for commercial flights. Subsidies for private equity and hedge funds is also not unheard of. Carried interest allows those earning the most to categorize their income as capital gains, and are thus taxed at a much lower rate than earned income.

If we're going to cut welfare, why not start with the most expensive? Take a look at this infographic for of what's really going on with corporate welfare and how it's affecting you as a taxpayer. Let us know your thoughts in the comments and don't forget to like and share it with your friends!