Friday, July 24, 2009

Lunchtime Poll Topic #4

Let's get right to it, because this lunchtime poll comes with a side of rant.


Welfare/Public Assistance. Yay or Nay?




Here's where I get all ranty.

I think, at its core, welfare is a good thing for a society to have. Sometimes hard working people fall on hard times. They get sick, they lose a job. Maybe a divorce in a one income family occurs and leaves the unemployed spouse high and dry. Sometimes bad things happen through no fault of your own and it's nice that there's a safety net.

But holy crap on a pancake it should not work the way it works in our country.

For one thing, it should be temporary. McDonald's is almost always hiring, and based on my experience with their employees, good personal hygiene, the ability to read and speak the Engilsh language or not required. A crappy job is better than no job. There's no reason to be on welfare for years. I get it that you can't support a family on McPay, but it's a start.

For another thing, the recipient should have to do something to reciprocate for the benefits they receive. While you're looking for a job (or if you're one of the millions that the government is paying to go to school to learn a trade) you should have to do mandatory community service. The laws vary by state, but for the most part, only the food stamp program makes such requirements.

As it stands in the US, people have no incentive to ever get off public assistance. Let's see...I can sit on my butt in my government paid housing and use my EBT card to buy smokes and Doritos from the gas station down the road. Now I can even call and chat with my other unemployed friends on my very own government paid TracPhone!! And if I'm a smart welfare recipient, I'll tell them I want to go to school. Then I'll get free tuition and free childcare while I attend classes! And then I can get a doctor to say my kid has severe ADHD and I'll get some more free money for doing nothing. Awesome!

Again, this isn't a rant against all welfare recipients. There are legitimate cases out there. But the majority do not fall into that category, and it pisses me off.

End rant.

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