In 2010 Americans were more dependent on the government for their personal incomes then at any other time in history.
Last year Americans received $2.3 trillion dollars in government assistance. That is Social Security, Medicaid, unemployment , housing, WIC, and other benefits. That is more then the $2.2 trillion dollars American households paid in taxes last year. Approximately 59% of Americans got at least one government benefit.
Government assistance represented an average 18.3% of Americans personal income last year, the highest ever recorded. Actual wages only totaled 51% also the lowest on record. The average benefit payment was $7,427 dollars in 2010. That is double since 1990.
Government assistance is not suppose to be a permanent way of life. The true aim of the programs of welfare and public assistance have been lost through the many years of abuse.
The goal of government assistance should be to help people attain a position in life where they no longer need assistance. There will always be select people that need assistance their entire lives. Mentally and physically challenged people fall into that category. Shouldn't the majority of our government assistance go to people in that category.
When these programs are used correctly, the tax paying citizen doesn't seem to have a problem with the programs. But when these programs, such as WIC, food stamps (now a card), housing assistance, health insurance assistance, education assistance are abused it not only upsets that same tax paying citizen but actually cost that person money. Money in the sense that it is tax dollars that fund these programs, the more they are abused the more tax increase we will see. I see too many people these days that receive government subsidies walking around with $150 dollar sneakers, $100 dollar jeans, $300 dollar cell phones, thousand dollar rims and stereos on their $100 dollar vehicles.
In 2006 in the height of the historic Bush economy expansion the number of Americans on food stamps was approximately 20 million people. Since President Obama has been in office that number has nearly doubled. A story that doesn't get much press is that for the last two years the number of Americans receiving food stamps (card) has increased every month.
That increase is not good for the tax paying citizen or the citizen receiving public assistance. The increase in welfare/public assistance spending is one of the main reasons the annual budget is in the trillions of dollars. The impact on welfare/govt. asst. recipients receiving the food stamps, medicaid, housing, education, etc. creates a permanent welfare class, in terms of skills and attitude. The children are nurtured in a mentality that perpetuates dependency from the government generation after generation.
So what are our options to stop the abuse? Here are some ideas:
Home visits and inspections. Send a representative to each and every persons home that is receiving any form of government assistance. I'm not talking about scheduled appointments I'm speaking about random inspections. Lets make sure that if we are giving housing assistance to someone that they are keeping a safe and livable home. If we are giving someone food stamps (card) lets make sure that they are purchasing the types of food and the amount of food their family needs. During the unscheduled inspection anyone receiving govt. asst. will be drug tested and if found to be using drugs all government assistance will stop until they can prove they are clean at a future time.
If you are not a UNITED STATES citizen you do not receive any government assistance at all, period. Wait in line, start paying taxes and become a U.S. citizen then you may receive our help, but not until then.
Proof of employment and education. If we are going to give people assistance with education and housing and insurance, well then we need to make sure that these people are working and paying taxes like everyone else. Saying that you are looking for a job no longer cuts it, you must be working. To sit at home and do nothing other then collect a check every month without contributing back to society is no longer acceptable. If you are receiving education assistance you must prove that you enrolled and must obtain an A average in order to retain your education assistance. No more is just collecting the government education check and spending it on clothes, while he/she fails out of all the classes they enrolled for.
Lets start holding these people accountable for the assistance that WE are giving them.
Restructure the qualifying requirements. Lets start helping the middle class American that works two jobs and goes to school full time while raising a family. These are the people that are putting the most into our system and they are the people that receive the least from it.
To be sure I am not against government assistance at all. I believe that these programs are there to help someone get back on their feet, not to make sure they never get off their feet. But the abuse must stop. We all see it everyday, the system is broke and must be fixed.
Please tell me what you think…..Agree with me or disagree with me either way I learn what the PEOPLE think. L2
12 comments:
I would really like to see the random visits and drug testing happen! I think that what you said is so true and the government needs to check in and see where the assistance is going. If these people on government assistance aren't following certain rules then they need to get the boot and go find a job and pay for things themselves, it shouldnt be handed out to them for sitting on there ass and buying stupid things with the money! It makes me sick and something needs to be done!
@Candace thank you for your comment and following the website…That is one big problem in my opinion is that there is very little oversight of the public assistance. Any investor would want to know how and what their money is being spent on am I right? The tax dollars we pay to fund these programs can be seen as an investment, an investment in our future. That these people that need the assistance will use it correctly and then contribute back to the same programs that assisted them. It will become that way only if we speak up and voice our concerns. L2
Sure, no one wants to see the abuse of public assistance. But the people who would be hurt the most by the punishment are the children. Those kids who would be denied proper food, clothing, possibly shelter are victims of circumstance.
@Andrea thank you for your comment please sign up to follow us and subscribe via email. I agree with you that no one wants to see the abuse of public assistance. I also agree with you that the ones that are hurt the most by the abuse are the children. The children of the people that are abusing the system are already being denied proper food, clothing and shelter. So maybe the punishment may open the eyes of the parents of these children. We see way to often people getting food assistance (whether it be WIC or food stamps) selling their assistance for alcohol. We see too many times people receiving educational aid only to spend the money on clothes, electronics, etc. and never actually pass a class. I agree with you that punishment would hurt the children, but someone has to be held accountable for the abuse right? Take the public assistance out of it, if parents are stealing or using drugs it is still the children that are hurt the most. But like I said someone has to be held accountable so that we may break the cycle of government dependance generation after generation.
I don't want to say that our current state of welfare dependents all abuse the system, but it seems that a large majority of people who do receive goverment assistance have to cheat in order to maintain a living above a poverty level. I have known of some instances where a loss of benefits was to occur unless situation "X" changes...so in order to continue receiving benefits they made necessary adjustments such as quiting a part time job that paid for diapers and cigarettes, having another child to continue getting WIC for their older children to still have milk...I have seen it and I understand it. My main concern is that by perpetuating this lifestyle choice it sends a message that the next generation picks up on, one that I feel has already happened to the current generation of slacker 20 somethings..."Entitlement" issues. That is, we all owe them something for living and "beautifying' our life with their sullen disatisfied grimmaces cause their XBox isn't the newest model or their mom bought the wrong juicebox...which isn't their fault.
Just a quick thought from the conspiracy side of me...who benefits the most from a nation of people dependent on their goverment for everything? If you want to take over the world and get your way feed the people, give them free money, control the media to perpetuate that this is the way things are and "Big Daddy" is taking care of your best interests that all you have to do is "Rock The Vote". Sad times we live in, Sir, sad times.
@Chefboy1138 thank you for your comment and for following us here. By no means do I believe that every person that receives public/government assistance is abusing the system. There are plenty of honest people/families out there that need government assistance and use it properly. But it would be ignorant for us to believe that there are not abusers among us. There was a study done that stated of the 23 million households that received the Earned Income Tax Credit benefit 1/3 of those claims are improperly paid. You see the EITC is based on the honor system, what does that tell you. As I said in my original writing government/public assistance is there to help you back on your feet in a time of need. It is not intended to be a lifestyle. Just some more food for thought here…But have you ever wondered why the highest crime rates are around the biggest public/government assistance areas? As to your conspiracy theory there, you are not far off. You see if you give people free food and free housing and free healthcare and education they will in turn vote you back into office year after year. Works out great for the politician making six to seven figures a year right? L2
I'm a first time visitor to this website, and I have to say that I am impressed. However, we do have a few disagreements. There are some philosophical issues at hand. One of them being that I think most folks would feel uncomfortable with the government intruding into peoples houses uninvited, and unsolicited at any time to do an "inspection," and a drug test. That is a HUGE expansion of government. I know most proponents of the 2nd amendment would have an issue with the Federal Government stopping by to make sure their firearms are concealed and are out of reach from children. We have to remain consistent with what government is and isn't allowed to do. As you stated, 59% of the population were the recipients of some sort of governmental assistance. That is a large amount of people to put under such scrutiny. If we are to take such measures, then we should also confiscate some of the private planes of Board Members who took federal bailout money. Consistency. (Unrelated, but Hedge Fund managers have never been better.) Most "Illegals," do pay taxes to their states. Small businesses appreciate their cheap labor. Disallowing welfare to them does nothing but make skapegoats out of the voiceless who have nothing but a dream allthewhile increasing their suffering. As far as demanding an A average, that would deincentivize most students from even pursuing a higher education. (Most students are capeable of maintaining an A average don't recieve much assistance because they are eligible for scholarships anyway.) Less than 1 in 4 Texans have a degree from a higher educational institution. Since our current governor lifted the cap on tuition, rates have increased 64%, making a degree that much more difficult for middle income families. Our state is already taking it upon itself to leave students in the dark, reguardless of performance. Texas is 48th in terms of spending per student and we are bracing ourselves for even deeper cuts! I agree that fiscal sanity should be a priority; but we must do so rationally while keeping the suffering of the downtrodden to a minimum. Insurmountable debt is terrible for the future generations, but so is a horrible education. You're right. Lets hold people accountable. So let's cut the 4 Billion dollars of subsidies we are set to hand Big Oil (Americas energy source from the past). Food for thought; the CEO's from the five major oil companies have raked in 35 Billion in the first quarter of 2011 alone. Corporate welfare okay, but education not okay? It seems our congress is okay with Socialism when it comes to wealth going from tax payers to the wealthy.
@Sam Caceres thank you for visiting our site and thank you for your comment if you havent already please sign up to follow us and subscribe via email. I am always glad to hear from someone with different views then mine it is what makes this country so great. Whether someone feels uncomfortable or not about inspections or drug tests is not the issue. The issue is GIVING these people our tax dollars and making sure they are being used for the proper things. Most employers have the right to randomly drug test their employees. If we are GIVING someone money we should have the right to make sure they are drug free. The 2nd Amendment does not state that your firearm must be concealed and out of reach of children, but we all know they should be. 60% is a very large amount of people using government or public assistance again one of the main reasons our national debt is int the trillions. So to not scrutinize them would be a injustice on our part. I do agree with you about the private planes and bonuses that the Board members of the bailed out companys should be confiscated and sold and the money would go to their debt. Most "illegals" do not pay taxes and if they do it is because the have a stolen or phoney social security number. I agree that small businesses love their cheap labor but cheap labor is taking jobs away from our citizens. Allowing them to have free education and free health care and other government subsidies just because they are "illegal" is taking away from people here that pay into our system. If they wish to leave the American dream there are legal ways to go about that. As far as maintaining an A average desensitizing students from pursuing higher education, well that is what is wrong now. We dont hold these people to high standards so they just get by. I have a wife that is going to college and in order to get into the program she wants to she must keep an A average. They can do it but the will and want to better themselves must be there. I do agree with you that our Gov. is making education a real struggle for everyone. If you read some of my other writings I agree with you that we should not allow the oil companies any tax breaks while we are cutting over 4 billion dollars in our education budget(that is Texas alone). Yes billion dollar profits in the first quarter, which is a good thing, giving them 7 billion dollar tax breaks is a bad thing. Lets make a difference here and now, start holding people accountable for their actions. It starts at a local level like here with discussions and then actions.
Thank you for writing this! I am struggling to find any attention to this issue in 2012 but found this article and I couldn't agree more.
RAE
I also thank you for sharing your thoughts and statistics of the amount of people that abuse our money. The amount of people I pass by on casual conversations are openly flaunting on the minimal hours worked to fixate their government assistance. Another grey hair pops from my head when someone tells me I work too hard or too many,that is why I would never qualify for any assistance being a single mother, as I'm listening to them tell of their Disney vacation for the fourth time this year! I don't know what happened to a persons sense of pride. One more fabulous aspect on persons accepting assistance is the extra bonus they get at tax time. Ha..how can you beat paying maybe $800 dollars a year to get $4000 back. I just love our "Big Daddy Obama"!
RAE
I also thank you for sharing your thoughts and statistics of the amount of people that abuse our money. The amount of people I pass by on casual conversations are openly flaunting on the minimal hours worked to fixate their government assistance. Another grey hair pops from my head when someone tells me I work too hard or too many,that is why I would never qualify for any assistance being a single mother, as I'm listening to them tell of their Disney vacation for the fourth time this year! I don't know what happened to a persons sense of pride. One more fabulous aspect on persons accepting assistance is the extra bonus they get at tax time. Ha..how can you beat paying maybe $800 dollars a year to get $4000 back. I just love our "Big Daddy Obama"!
L2-
I would like to cite you in my Political Science class. I was wondering if where you got your facts and statistics?? Please email me at almiraofgod AT gmail.com
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