> The US isn't very good at running social safety nets, it's chaotic and critical parts of it are managed in very different ways state to state. We're not getti

> The US isn't very good at running social safety nets, it's chaotic and critical parts of it are managed in very different ways state to state. We're not getting enough bang for our buck on that spending, we need to do better. We're spending a lot of money and the results are often not good enough Typically, when someone is complaining about the lack of a social safety net in the US, they mean in terms of services received, rather than money spent. As the above quote shows, you obviously know that because of various insane inefficiencies (often caused or abetted by perverse incentives at the interface between the public and private sectors) the point you're making of how much is spent in terms of % of GDP doesn't actually refute the complaints (about how little is being done for those in need) that you are objecting to. So. We spend a heck of a lot, and we don't have a decent social safety net. It's also worth noting that where social safety net programs are being poorly run by the government, this can sometimes be traced to politically motivated shenanigans and deliberate mismanagement.