Shrimpbox
Gold Member
As many of the threads here and in the political forum show, debate over different welfare programs(food stamps, min wage, unemployment) seem to lack definition. Stereotypes on both sides are constantly presented and generic arguments are repeated ad naseum. But no one offers up any kind of formula to separate the needy from the greedy, and as a conservative it seems like the argument always devolves to our detriment. This will be an issue in the upcoming elections and republicans better be able to address it head on or proactively.
Conservatives aren't heartless but they are also not fools, especially if they live and work in the real world, and the fraud and corruption in the welfare system is gargantuan and it remains also undefined because the powers that be have no interest in curtailing the welfare system. Let's just say for the sake of argument that 30 percent of welfare payments of all kind are fraudulent. If that thirty was cleaned up we could afford to have all the assistance that is in place now operating in the black and in general with the support of both parties, so this could be a win win situation, the truly needy would be served and the budget would not be busted.
I am upset about this issue because of what I see happening in my own town. I live in one of the poorest counties in fl, and it does not take a heap of money to get by here. Food stamps are ubiquitous . wic, free health care, a ton of money returned at tax time, and Medicaid out the wazoo. In the most flagrant of welfare scams we have a drunk getting disability and back pay because she is a drunk, a drug addict getting disability for being a drug addict, a fat girl getting disability because she is fat, and a healthy 20year old male,father of one child getting disability because he doesn't get along in social situations very well. I know all these people and all of them could work and we're working before they got disability. In short, bad behavior is being rewarded. Like in the rest of the country there are some deserving of govt programs and a whole lot scamming the system.
If google and Facebook and others can compile encyclopedias of private info on all of us, why can't the govt apply similar technology to the welfare problem or in good free enterprise terms why can't it farm out these tasks to the private sector.(please no obamacare website comparisons). We need some definition of what needy is, some regional apps for the level of need in different parts of the country, welfare histories of those who are chronically on assistance programs, and assessments of the level of success of assistance programs. It is not uncaring to want to get the most bang for the buck, and it is not heartless to want the most needy to get the lions share of benefits.
While this is something I encourage republican to tackle, addressing this problem would benefit the whole country and unite us, but you must have some metrics to begin to define the problem.
Conservatives aren't heartless but they are also not fools, especially if they live and work in the real world, and the fraud and corruption in the welfare system is gargantuan and it remains also undefined because the powers that be have no interest in curtailing the welfare system. Let's just say for the sake of argument that 30 percent of welfare payments of all kind are fraudulent. If that thirty was cleaned up we could afford to have all the assistance that is in place now operating in the black and in general with the support of both parties, so this could be a win win situation, the truly needy would be served and the budget would not be busted.
I am upset about this issue because of what I see happening in my own town. I live in one of the poorest counties in fl, and it does not take a heap of money to get by here. Food stamps are ubiquitous . wic, free health care, a ton of money returned at tax time, and Medicaid out the wazoo. In the most flagrant of welfare scams we have a drunk getting disability and back pay because she is a drunk, a drug addict getting disability for being a drug addict, a fat girl getting disability because she is fat, and a healthy 20year old male,father of one child getting disability because he doesn't get along in social situations very well. I know all these people and all of them could work and we're working before they got disability. In short, bad behavior is being rewarded. Like in the rest of the country there are some deserving of govt programs and a whole lot scamming the system.
If google and Facebook and others can compile encyclopedias of private info on all of us, why can't the govt apply similar technology to the welfare problem or in good free enterprise terms why can't it farm out these tasks to the private sector.(please no obamacare website comparisons). We need some definition of what needy is, some regional apps for the level of need in different parts of the country, welfare histories of those who are chronically on assistance programs, and assessments of the level of success of assistance programs. It is not uncaring to want to get the most bang for the buck, and it is not heartless to want the most needy to get the lions share of benefits.
While this is something I encourage republican to tackle, addressing this problem would benefit the whole country and unite us, but you must have some metrics to begin to define the problem.
