Just as in the debate between Trump and Kamala, last night’s VP square-off had precious little conversation about runaway multi-trillion dollar government spending.

This chart shows that Americans are becoming addicted to government aid as we morph into a a nanny state. The Economic Innovation Group, cleverly titled its analysis “The Great Transfer-mation.” The yellow areas are counties where government transfers exceed 25 percent of total personal income:

The authors explain:

Today, most U.S. counties depend on a level of government transfer income that was once reserved only for the most distressed places. In 1970, not even 1 percent of counties derived a quarter or more of their total personal income from transfers. In 2000, just 10.4 percent did. But by 2022, 53 percent of counties were receiving a quarter or more of their income from Transfers.

The study is a little misleading because it includes Social Security (which is a benefit) and we have an aging population.

Still, it is alarming how much money is being redistributed each year, and addressing this dependency culture should be a top priority of the next administration and Congress.