Is not the welfare/entitlement state of
mind spiraling out of control in America? Is anyone, lifting a finger of
resistance to counter this state of mind way of thinking? The cost of welfare
is now well over $1 trillion a year. From what I am able to glean from public
information sources, Food Stamps are so ubiquitous or pervasive that they have,
for all practical purposes become the new standard currency in many urban cities in America.
Has not the current administration and one presidential nominee tacitly implied that we as a nation are in the midst of a so-called recovery? Yet, facts reveal that 45 million Americans depend on taxpayers to put food in their cupboards. Is not roughly 5 million more than when President Barack Obama took office? Has not Medicaid rolls increased by more than 10 million? Has not Obama, openly boasted about how many people he's moved into the program. To his credit or in spite of him, the number of unemployment insurance beneficiaries has fallen, and that’s a good thing. But then again, the number of Americans collecting disability insurance has continued to climb. Yes, indeed, this is some recovery. It is apparent, no one wants to admit that the ease of entry into the welfare state and the liberality of the benefits are big reasons labor force participation has nosedived to the point of collapsing. Why work?
As a result, the Census Bureau tells us that most families that are in poverty have no one working. Poverty is still widespread in America not because wages are too low but because fewer poor people have a job. If there are no wages earned at all, it is impossible to get out of the poverty trap. This is the sad part of this narrative.
Democrats in Congress have vociferously opposed putting even minor revisions back into work-for-welfare requirements. Even modest workfare requirements are denounced as anti-poor. So even a proposed federal law mandating work for food stamp recipients who are non-disabled adults without children gets shot down.
We know that changing welfare laws can have a positive impact on getting recipients back into the workforce and off welfare. In North Carolina (my state of residence) and Maine, when unemployment benefits were reduced and the number of weeks of benefits was limited, entry into the workforce increased.
So why aren't Republicans pushing workfare for all federal welfare recipients? Some are afraid that they would be looked at as insensitive or even pitiless. But getting people off welfare and into a productive job is not just a way to reduce costs but also a demonstrated way to restore broken and dispirited lives and move people into the mainstream. There is dignity in work. There is despair in welfare. After three generations of the failed entitlement state, has not welfare done enough harm to the very people it was supposed to help?
Has not the current administration and one presidential nominee tacitly implied that we as a nation are in the midst of a so-called recovery? Yet, facts reveal that 45 million Americans depend on taxpayers to put food in their cupboards. Is not roughly 5 million more than when President Barack Obama took office? Has not Medicaid rolls increased by more than 10 million? Has not Obama, openly boasted about how many people he's moved into the program. To his credit or in spite of him, the number of unemployment insurance beneficiaries has fallen, and that’s a good thing. But then again, the number of Americans collecting disability insurance has continued to climb. Yes, indeed, this is some recovery. It is apparent, no one wants to admit that the ease of entry into the welfare state and the liberality of the benefits are big reasons labor force participation has nosedived to the point of collapsing. Why work?
As a result, the Census Bureau tells us that most families that are in poverty have no one working. Poverty is still widespread in America not because wages are too low but because fewer poor people have a job. If there are no wages earned at all, it is impossible to get out of the poverty trap. This is the sad part of this narrative.
Democrats in Congress have vociferously opposed putting even minor revisions back into work-for-welfare requirements. Even modest workfare requirements are denounced as anti-poor. So even a proposed federal law mandating work for food stamp recipients who are non-disabled adults without children gets shot down.
We know that changing welfare laws can have a positive impact on getting recipients back into the workforce and off welfare. In North Carolina (my state of residence) and Maine, when unemployment benefits were reduced and the number of weeks of benefits was limited, entry into the workforce increased.
So why aren't Republicans pushing workfare for all federal welfare recipients? Some are afraid that they would be looked at as insensitive or even pitiless. But getting people off welfare and into a productive job is not just a way to reduce costs but also a demonstrated way to restore broken and dispirited lives and move people into the mainstream. There is dignity in work. There is despair in welfare. After three generations of the failed entitlement state, has not welfare done enough harm to the very people it was supposed to help?
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