I won’t even bother to point out the completely incorrect statement that this demographic “pays zero taxes,” as @SavoirFaire has already beat me to it. But far more ridiculous is the fact that you think that people who make essentially no money “consume as if they did” make a steady income. Please, tell me how people who can barely get the bare minimum on the little to no government aid that they may receive can manage to consume anything more than just that? I would love to hear how you think that this is at all possible.
But to answer your question, I really don’t understand how the statement that “America is not about handouts” somehow implies that he is trying to pull the wool over America’s eyes. To think that the only motivation that could possibly be behind this statement is disingenuously gaining support is completely non sequitur, as he really has no one to “fool” in saying this.
Furthermore, I’m assuming that you’re referring to those on welfare and other similar government assistance programs, in which case I ask you the following: In what way are these programs in combination with the reforms that Obama has been pushing for all along, which are designed to get people back on their feet and into the workplace, handouts?
I am not of the opinion that Welfare, Medicaid, etc. are handouts in the first place; they are designed as temporary aid to keep those people (just barely) afloat, until they are able to once again become “productive” citizens.
To debunk your ridiculously rudimentary statement that they pay “zero [federal] taxes” and “live on somebody else’s efforts,” many of these citizens have in fact paid federal taxes previously, and all of the citizens who successfully return to work will pay federal taxes, effectively paying back their assistance. The problem with this system which leads people such as yourself to come to these extremely biased and fundamentally incorrect conclusions is that the current government programs commonly do not provide the necessary help to get enough of these at-need citizens back into the workplace. This is why Obama has proposed the reforms/programs designed for that sole purpose, which will both create new jobs and help to fill the industries that need workers in the process.
In short, government assistance programs never were handouts, and they will be even less so with the reforms/programs that Obama has proposed. Furthermore, it is certainly not disingenuous to make a statement which is absolutely true, especially when talking about a brighter future.