Do you think more people abuse the system than those who really need it?
I do because I see it all the time.
Or maybe because you see it doesn't mean that it's always the case. I'm against abusing the system. I'm not against the system altogether. I feel corporate welfare is a bigger problem than social welfare.
There is no corporate welfare. Corporate welfare is a liberal term meaning the government takes less of other people's money. That's not welfare. Welfare is giving people something they never had before--not taking less from them.
Always the case? No. Most of the cases I've seen? Yes.
About two years ago one of my tenants became increasingly late with rent. It was an unmarried couple with two children together. Spotting the trend, I invited them to my apartment to discuss the problem.
He worked 40 hours a week and wouldn't work an hour more. She stayed home supposedly home schooling their children even though she was as dumb as an ox. After evaluating their situation, I found a solution:
I suggested that if he wished to work only 40 hours a week, and she wished to stay home, then the solution to their problem was simple: She can get a part-time job on the weekends when he's home to watch the kids!
Great solution, but she wouldn't even entertain the idea. Why? Because she was getting $250.00 a month in food stamps. So I took them to court for an eviction and now it's on his record for any landlord to see.
Both people smoked cigarettes. Their oldest child was a 12 year old girl who also smoked, and they provided her the tobacco since she was too young to work and buy her own. They had three cats, an Obama phone, a large dog, and cable television.
Their situation was not that unusual. I often see food stamp people at the grocery store. They buy their allowable food items, but then whip out cash for the cigarettes, beer, greeting cards, flowers, perfume, huge bags of dog food, and various other items that are not covered under SNAP.
Okay, it's anecdotal. So if you want to see those who "need" pubic assistance, check out what Maine did with their food stamp program. After creating simple requirements, most of the people without dependents dropped out of their food stamp program.