You are so sweet!

But I can't really take credit for the above info. I learned a LOT from Ohfor07, DQ, Icky, and another friend who have all patiently taught and explained and probably screamed at the computer screen a time or two in frustration with me.

On entitlements: yes, example of entitlements abound. With my question, though, I was asking what position we Americans assume when we accept entitlements from the USG. See, we've bought a lie. Somewhere in school or on TV we've been taught/conditioned to believe that the government is the more powerful entity and we must do what the government says. We have this idea that government is Big Daddy that gives us kiddies candy and toys if we are good little boys and girls. That's bullcorn! The truth is this:

"....We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...."

The Founding Fathers, documented in the Declaration of Independence, understood that governments derive their (supposedly and correctly) just powers from us. That's why we have a Representative form of government (Republic) and not a democracy. We, the constituents, are supposed to tell our elected legislators what to do. They are supposed to listen to us. We have the power, according to our country's founding documents. Our current form of government has us believing we are supposed to "take" from them. This is the absolute inverse of the truth. I'll underscore the truth in conclusion:

http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/unalienable.htm