[quote]dnlcdstn wrote:
I think I should quit my job and just go on welfare. Do some jobs on the side and stay at home. Yea, now if everyone did this think how wonderful the world would be. The economy would be booming and our dollar would soar.
Oh wait. No, that’s exact fucking opposite of what we should do.
There should be mandatory drug tests and employment attempts at the very least. If I happen to lose my job I’m glad there is a system to help me get back on my feet. It’s just the scum of the earth that choose to stay off their feet that piss me off. [/quote]
Just think if welfare and unemployment where done by private companies, these abuses would be gone.[/quote]
Please explain how it would work. Not disagreeing, just clueless. Unless these private companies could collect tax dollars how do they operate?
[quote]CappedAndPlanIt wrote:
That bitch. She should be working 60 hours a week for minimum wage to make some already rich people even richer while she struggles to pay her rent.
Let the flaming begin, but don’t miss my point: when the system is designed to fuck people, don’t be surprised when people decide to start fucking the system.[/quote]
Yes, good point. Let’s be mad at this woman for scamming us out of a new Infiniti while ignoring the people who actually caused the recession and are getting paid billions of dollars for it.
[quote]CappedAndPlanIt wrote:
That bitch. She should be working 60 hours a week for minimum wage to make some already rich people even richer while she struggles to pay her rent.
Let the flaming begin, but don’t miss my point: when the system is designed to fuck people, don’t be surprised when people decide to start fucking the system.[/quote]
Yes, good point. Let’s be mad at this woman for scamming us out of a new Infiniti while ignoring the people who actually caused the recession and are getting paid billions of dollars for it.
[/quote]
It’s like saying “it’s ok to steal because OJ is not in prison”.
Do some ya’ll think charities are enough to help get people back on their feet again after lay offs and whatnots? And don’t give me that ‘they should’ve saved money’. Some jobs just don’t pay enough to have reserves. And don’t give me ‘they should have gotten an education and/or better job’. If no-one took the shit jobs, how would things get done (burger flipping, garbage man, bottom of the ladder retail). I definitely think there needs to be major welfare reform, but unfortunately the kind I’m thinking about doesn’t win politicians votes…
Unemployment comp and welfare are about 2% of the Federal budget in 2010.
If you want to look at what’s driving our fiscal crisis, it’s Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and defense. Welfare is salient in a lot of people’s minds but it’s not the big issue.
Unemployment comp and welfare are about 2% of the Federal budget in 2010.
If you want to look at what’s driving our fiscal crisis, it’s Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and defense. Welfare is salient in a lot of people’s minds but it’s not the big issue.[/quote]
[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:
Do some ya’ll think charities are enough to help get people back on their feet again after lay offs and whatnots? And don’t give me that ‘they should’ve saved money’. Some jobs just don’t pay enough to have reserves. And don’t give me ‘they should have gotten an education and/or better job’. If no-one took the shit jobs, how would things get done (burger flipping, garbage man, bottom of the ladder retail). I definitely think there needs to be major welfare reform, but unfortunately the kind I’m thinking about doesn’t win politicians votes…
Unemployment comp and welfare are about 2% of the Federal budget in 2010.
If you want to look at what’s driving our fiscal crisis, it’s Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and defense. Welfare is salient in a lot of people’s minds but it’s not the big issue.[/quote]
It IS a big issue. Tell the generations of people who are basically addicted to a government hand-out and have had their lives ruined that it’s no big deal. Do you realize how the entire economy would look if there were no welfare and the many people who are dependent upon it went out got jobs or started small businesses?
Since when is it no big deal to flush a human life down the drain?
When government takes money from someone who earned it and gives it to someone who did not earn it they’ve not helped either person!
Orion: ok, ok, they’re spiritually the same, but the way I see it we need to prioritize cutting the entitlements we actually can’t afford over the relatively small expenses of WIC and so on, which frequently do help the needy. We can see if we want the state to really wither away when that’s actually a salient issue – right now it would be nice to not go broke.
Zeb: I have no firsthand experience as to whether welfare actually makes individuals’ lives worse, so I can’t comment on that. One thing that does seem like a problem is marginal rates – that point at which getting a minimum-wage job would actually make your household POORER than remaining unemployed, because it reduces benefits sharply. That actually happens, and I think that does make people’s lives worse.
On the other hand: I know “think of the children” is a cliche, but my doctor’s office used to serve primarily teen mothers on TANF, and the thing is, some of the moms might be morons (or raised in an environment where long-term thinking never seems relevant, I don’t know how it works, I probably can’t understand it) but the infants do need milk and it isn’t their fault.
There is more to it, but as far as making people’s lives worse, it’s two-fold. Money taken away from person earning is a negative, and then the recipient of that money turns into someone that is dependant on it for the rest of their life. Just my opinion, as I’m sure this isn’t what happens in all cases, but I bet it happens enough of the time.
See, Fletch, lots of people don’t like to live in reality. They prefer the ivory tower American dream where everybody in America can succeed and if you don’t “its your own damn fault!!!”
Nevermind that, in the majority of companies, the people who do the work that create the profit for the company are paid absolute shit wages. Nevermind that more and more people have to work 60+ hours just to keep up with bills. Nevermind that charity wouldnt come close to actually supporting a person while they looked for work, let alone a family.
Nevermind that the favorite punishment of any bill collector is charging more money, so any time a person is a little short ends up being a much bigger problem after you calculate all the “late fees”. Nevermind that lots of people don’t come from families that allow them a free ride through college and have to start working as soon as they can.
Nevermind that, shockingly, people are human and working a labor intenstive/stressful job for 40+ hours a week leaves them too tired to go to night classes, or get a second job, or even go out job hunting for something better.
Nevermind that some peoples families couldnt give them a car when they became old enough to drive (limiting their job opportunities) or send them to college (limiting their education opportunities) or an expensive suit to wear on job interviews (limiting their ability to project a professional appearance)… you’ll always hear Rich White Guy pound his fist about how he’s a self made man, ignoring all the completely unearned benefits that were passed along to him.
And, yeah, like Ryan said, a bunch of educated white men are directly responsible for contributing to our econimic crisis AND WERE REWARDED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR IT. Yet jre and some racist TxCASH want to pound their fists that a black woman is “stealing” welfare.
Who’s the real problem in America, poor black people or rich white people?
Unemployment comp and welfare are about 2% of the Federal budget in 2010.
If you want to look at what’s driving our fiscal crisis, it’s Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and defense. Welfare is salient in a lot of people’s minds but it’s not the big issue.[/quote]
It IS a big issue. Tell the generations of people who are basically addicted to a government hand-out and have had their lives ruined that it’s no big deal. Do you realize how the entire economy would look if there were no welfare and the many people who are dependent upon it went out got jobs or started small businesses?
Since when is it no big deal to flush a human life down the drain?
When government takes money from someone who earned it and gives it to someone who did not earn it they’ve not helped either person![/quote]
What would our economy look like if entry level jobs paid significantly more than welfare benefits?
Yeah, I know, the horror… we’d have less super-rich and many more living reasonably comfortably.
But, I forget, the only thing that ever spurs any innovation is the dream of becoming obscenely rich, so if we did that, nothing would ever get done and we’d go back to the stone age… right?
[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:
Do some ya’ll think charities are enough to help get people back on their feet again after lay offs and whatnots? And don’t give me that ‘they should’ve saved money’. Some jobs just don’t pay enough to have reserves. And don’t give me ‘they should have gotten an education and/or better job’. If no-one took the shit jobs, how would things get done (burger flipping, garbage man, bottom of the ladder retail). I definitely think there needs to be major welfare reform, but unfortunately the kind I’m thinking about doesn’t win politicians votes…
[/quote]
There is something called “unemployment compensation”, but of course you have to work at some point in your life to be eligible. I know a couple of dudes in my gym who are out of work 3-4 month every year, but they bust their asses when they do work welding/construction.
The problem is not with welfare as a way of helping the less fortunate, the problem is abuse of a welfare system by those who should be working instead of relying on a handout.
300 lbs dudes in expensive leather coats pulling up to a grocery store and paying for steaks with foodstamps - means smth is wrong with the system.
And yes, there are plenty of ppl making minimum wage instead of asking the government for the handout.