We are becoming a nation of people dependent on government, argues Tax Foundation President Scott A. Hodge in a thought-provoking column in Investor's Business Daily.

What's worse is that Barack Obaman is encouraging the dependency through his polices.

"President Obama's policies, from health care to taxes, are all intended to increase the number of takers in America while reducing the number of givers," Hodge writes. "Our analysis of Obama's FY 2011 budget plan shows that it would increase the amount of redistribution from the top 10% of families by nearly $100 billion per year — to a total of $854 billion — while expanding the amount of government benefits targeted to the middle and upper-middle classes."

From his column:

Are you a giver or a taker? No, that is not a bad pickup line from an Internet dating site — it's a question every American should be asking themselves these days. "Do I take more than I give?"

I'm sure most of us want to be considered givers, not takers. After all, we grew up with the old adage that "it is better to give than receive." But we all know people who are more takers than givers.

We've all seen someone who brings a small salad to the potluck but piles lots of your casserole on his plate. Or, there is always one person in the lunch group who orders the most expensive meal on the menu because she knows you are all splitting the check.

The same thing happens with government. A growing number of Americans are contributing little but taking a lot, and a shrinking number are giving a lot but taking little.

Recent IRS data for 2008 reports that a record 52 million Americans — or 36% of all filers — filed a tax return but had no income tax liability because of the generosity of the credits and deductions that have been enacted over the past 15 years.

Read the full column, "Once Self-Reliant, Now A Nation Of Takers," at the newspaper's Web site.