Welfare 08-20-16
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COMMENTARY BY Paul Draper Daily Signal, Aug. 17, 2016
According to a recently released study from the American Enterprise Institute, 82 percent of lower-middle-class families with young children face “marriage penalties” in the welfare system. Couples who marry would lose all or some of their welfare benefits because their combined income is often greater than each of their independent incomes. The study found that couples with young children are less likely to marry if they face a significant marriage penalty. Furthermore, nearly a third of Americans between the ages of 18 and 60 reported that they personally know someone who has chosen not to marry because of the marriage penalty. And this study only examines welfare marriage penalties for a few means-tested welfare programs: food stamps, Medicaid, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. There are over 80 means-tested welfare programs that provide other food, medical, and cash assistance, as well as housing assistance and social services to poor and lower-income Americans. Marriage penalties exist throughout the welfare system. READ MORE at the Daily Signal |
Dave Sussman Blog Aug. 31, 2016
"I think we should acknowledge that some welfare programs in the past were not well designed and in some cases did encourage dependency.… As somebody who worked in low-income neighborhoods, I’ve seen it where people weren’t encouraged to work, weren’t encouraged to upgrade their skills, were just getting a check, and over time their motivation started to diminish. And I think even if you’re progressive you’ve got to acknowledge that some of these things have not been well designed.”
It may surprise you it was President Barack Obama in 2011 who said this. The reality that is the welfare state and the perpetual cycle of government providing assistance to generation after generation all but kills incentive to succeed. And as the government has grown bigger, so has dependency. Today the U.S. spends 16 times as much on welfare as it did in the 1960’s, yet the poverty rate remains unchanged. 50 years earlier when President Lyndon Johnson initiated ‘the War on Poverty’ he said “Our aim is not only to relieve the symptom of poverty, but to cure it and, above all, to prevent it.” Almost $25 trillion has since been invested and under all measures welfare programs have failed. In 2016 the U.S. has 80 separate and independently run programs, controlled by numerous government agencies. The totals in cash, housing, medical, children’s services, food, and social services now cost over $1 trillion annually. The failure is not only financial but human. Self-reliance within one’s own community has all but been discarded as outdated or even judgmental; along with a collapsed family structure as marriage penalties within the welfare system financially incentivize single parent homes. It’s time for an honest discussion how welfare traps the poor in dependency. Dave Sussman blogs, is frequently featured at Ricochet.com, and produces original video at Mantalkminute.com |