<p>“I think you have a very confused sense of what it’s like to be on welfare. First of all, many federal means-tested benefits REQUIRE that the recipient have a job. I understand that there are plenty of people who abuse the system, but they are in the minority. Section 8 housing has very long lines for waiting; it does not cover very many people on means-tested benefits.”</p>
<p>No, I don’t know what it is like to be on welfare. Even though I qualified for it when I moved out and became independent, I decided to look hard for a job and live with friends until I could afford my own place. I don’t have respect for people who make little or no attempt to find employment unless they are forced to in a welfare to work program. Welfare reform occurred because there was WIDESPREAD abuse of the welfare system- women having a bunch of kids so they would get more money, people never trying to get a job, etc;. I mean you have people who pay no federal taxes being the recipients of free health care, discount housing and free checks, what incentive do most of them have to better their life sitaution? Based on my experience in low income, developmental neighborhoods, most people abuse gov handouts. When they are given no incentive to change, they won’t. The only reason many of them get jobs is because otherwise they would lose their welfare checks. That is how the world really works. Yes, there are SOME people who genuinely need help, but most people abuse the system because they can, and they guilt trip middle class america into financing their lifestyle. People on welfare double dip by taking entry level/min wage jobs, because while they are working, they still qualify for gov assistance. There are a lot more people than you think that are leeching off the system for their entire lives. Putting caps on the amount of time you could receive welfare was in response to the fact that most welfare recipients abused the system. People got tired of paying higher taxes to support people who had no ambition to support themselves. I do know what it’s like to be on welfare, because I have been around a lot of people that are through my work for a CDC. The people expected the company to finance camps, provide transportation and food, and supervision. Everyone running the camp volunteered. Most of the parents were unemployed, and when the counselors asked for parent volunteers, NO ONE stepped up (there were 50+ kids in the camp). In another instance, the company ran a toy drive for children of welfare recipients. Multiple kids threw away the toys and asked where the wii video games and ipods were, because that is what their parents would by them. Which is interesting considering their parents are supposed to be too poor to buy such items. Work for a CDC for a couple of years, and you will understand why so many in that field burn out. The people they are trying to help are never happy with what they get, and always want more. So no, I don’t have much sympathy for many people on welfare. Sure, there are the 10% who truly need it and are trying to work their way up, and by all means, I am fine with that. But the system is a failure. It’s essentially a bribe by liberals to get more votes and a way for well off people to feel better about being rich. Politicians rarely make policy to help people, typically there are ulterior motives. For instance, Dems constantly support a welfare state and helping the poor. Big surprise that poor people who actually vote overwhelmingly support Democrats. It creates dependency on the system which gives politicians power to make decisions, the goal is to make people dependent on the government in order to stay in office. I’m guessing you have not worked extensively in a low income area. Plenty of people jump at the opportunity to provide sec 8 housing because they get money from the gov. There is absolutely no shortage of sec 8 housing where I have lived (multiple big cities). So many people finance these projects. No surprise that the people who own the houses are too afraid to go to the neighborhoods and check in on the residents, because many times a single mother will apply for the house, get it, then move in her drug dealing boyfriend and his friends. This has happened countless times in the neighborhood I worked in. Over 50% of the sec 8 houses turned into drug houses or gang havens. Maybe some people in DC mean well with these policies, but more often than not they are abused. That is why idealists who enter into non profit CDC’s burnout so quickly and become cynical. It’s all a system of creating government dependency, not creating a society that allows people to be independent from the government.</p>