I am all for increasing benefits to the poor and the disabled, but this should be done not through higher taxes or deficits, but making cuts elsewhere otherwise its about prioritizing government spending.  I would focus on size of civil service and wages there.  With the baby boomers retiring shortly, there will be a lot of openings coming up, so leaving some vacant as well as wages in line with the private sector for new hires could easily free up a lot of money without raising taxes or running a deficit.