I generally describe myself as a bleeding heart liberal. But I'm sure by now your have surmised that I definitely have some unusual views that don't exactly coincide with traditional liberal views (for instance my views on child support for intentional single moms and student loan forgivness).
Here is another one for you....
I am a big believer in welfare programs.
I volunteer every Tuesday night at a homeless shelter and see first hand how extremely destitute some people in this country are. Many of our "guests" are addicts and/or have mental, emotional, or physical disabilities. But some of our guests are simply down on their luck.
I've been lucky in my life. I was born into a working class family. Neither of my parents had college educations, but my dad was in the navy and my mom worked civil service. We didn't wear name brand clothes or eat fancy foods. But there was always clean clothes, a roof over our head, and food in our bellies. Living on tight budgets as a kid didn't hurt me, it taught me to work hard for what I have and be grateful for what I got.
And as an adult, my husband and I aren't upperclass by American standards by any means, but compared to many people in this world, we might as well be millionaires with all of the everyday luxuries we take for granted.
But I am a big supporter of welfare programs because of the what-ifs. What if I had not been so lucky in life? What if I had born to a single mother with no education? What if I lost my job tomorrow and Superman died in a fiery car crash next week?
Fortunately, I have never been on any kind of welfare. Neither have my parents. But that doesn't mean I am immune. I feel it just means so far I have been very lucky. I believe anyone, ANYONE can fall on hard times. All it takes is a few strokes of bad luck, and I think anyone could find themselves needing help.
Overall, I feel the US Welfare system was invented to help people who have fallen on hard times get back on their feet. Yes, I believe in picking yourself up by the bootstraps, but some people don't even have on any boots! And that it in societie's best interest to help our neighbors through their tough times.
Okay, so now that I've established that I'm not anti-welfare, can I tell you what really ticks me off? People who play and or abuse the system.
For instance, when I see a family of 9, yes 2 parents and 7 kids using food stamps, I think "Why in the world did you have 7 freaking kids if you couldn't afford to feed them?" We have two kids. Two. Because that is all we can comfortable afford on our teachers' salaries.
Or when I see people chain smoking and I know they are on WIC. Uh, excuse me. How much is a carton of cigarettes these days? You can't afford milk or diapers for your baby, but you can afford those?
Or when I see the woman in line ahead of me paying for her groceries with food stamps while playing on her iPhone. Meanwhile I have my old Motorola Razr in my pocket, because even on our two teachers' salaries we can't really afford expensive data plans. I can afford groceries but not a data plan. She can afford a data plan but not groceries. Doesn't make sense to me.
Overall, I am still a supporter of welfare system because I still believe that the MAJORITY of people who use the programs do not abuse them. But when I see things like these, I get why my conservative friends refer to welfare programs as entitlement programs. Because it sure does seem like they feel entitled to having someone pay their way for the important stuff so that they can throw their money away frivously on the other stuff.
Dear Amber,
This one's a toughy for me. When our world collapsed we needed food stamps and our children had Medicaid coverage. After a year, some luck, and a totally supportive family, we rebuilt our lives. At that time I called our case manager and informed her we no longer needed the benefits. Could we have used the benefits longer? Probably. Mostly because the cost of health insurance is outrageous! I have to say though, neither of us smoke, we had "pay as you go" phones, we lived with my parents, I most certainly did not spend a ton of money at hair or nail salons, we didn't go out drinking, to say we were broke would be an understatement. But we were able to turn our lives around.
Clearly we cannot controls each other's spending. The issue I take with food stamps is that there are no restrictions on the type of food that can be purchased. You can buy candy, chips, surgary cereals...anything edible. I say, if you're being fed by the tax payers you should eat healthfully and mindfully. If you want to have junk food, pay for it yourself. Also, if someone is receiving food stamps, why not teach them how to grow their own food? Some of the food costs can be offset by having a small garden.
Just an FYI, the more kids a couple has, the more $ they receive in TANF and food stamps. Also, in some states although there is legislation as to the length of time one can receive benefits...there is loophole, a GIANT loophole. If you have a child under the age of 5 you do not have to GET A JOB! Don't even have to participate in the job training programs. So, some scum simply keep making babies. As a Social Worker, I once had a family who received more than $1200 a month in food stamps! Damn, we'd be eating real good with that kind of money! Individual responsibility is a stretch, most Americans already suffering from sincere apathy. The Government cannot and should not have a say in the # of children we have, nor can they control whether or not someone uses contraception. Clearly the Welfare Reform continues to be a necessity.
P.S. Everyone should quit smoking anyway, it's a nasty habit and it will eventually cause death if you do it long enough.
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