December 4, 2007 12:22PM 

# Independence in 1776 to Dependence on 1776 

By [Chris Edwards](https://www.cato.org/people/chris-edwards) 

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I recently updated [data I presented last year on the total number of federal subsidy programs](https://www.cato.org/pubs/tbb/tbb_0611-41.pdf).

It turns out that the federal government currently operates 1,776 subsidy programs. These include subsidies for states, cities, individuals, non-profit groups, and businesses.

As the chart shows, the number of subsidy programs has increased 25 percent since 2000.

![Media Name: 200712blog_1776.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/download-remote-images/www.cato.org/172395922072/200712blog_1776.jpg?itok=70Iscd4X) 

George W. Bush: He’s no Thomas Jefferson.

##### Related Tags 

[General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) 

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