Ancient recipients of instant news probably couldn't do very much about it for instance. Xerxes would still need three months to get his army together and he might not get home for years.

I can only point out a curious fact. Year after year the Nobel Awards bring a moment of happiness not only to the recipients not only to colleagues and friends of the recipients but even to strangers.

The belief that recipients of government aid are better off the more we spend on them is remarkably persistent. No matter how many times this central tenet of liberalism gets debunked like Brett Favre it just keeps coming back.

Well first of all we've got to get away from being offended by the truth. We've seen a 41 percent increase in food stamp recipients across the United States of America since President Obama was sworn in in January 2009. That has nothing to do with black white Hispanic or whatever. It's a fact and we need to you know deal with that.

Is it a coincidence that in 1998 Barack Obama talks about a majority coalition of welfare recipients and in 2012 we got a record number of Americans on food stamps while he's president? I don't think it's a coincidence.

As a former recipient of these services I can honestly say that the overwhelming majority of TANF recipients are hard-working Americans who are down on their luck and just want an opportunity to better their lives and those of their family through work and access to education.