What is the state of welfare programs in America today?

[CC27]

Syrinx  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Journal  Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Mon Jun-07-10 05:45 AM
Original message
What is the state of welfare programs in America today?
   
I still hear griping about all this supposed "welfare" going on in America. (As if "welfare" is a bad thing.) But didn't Clinton and his Republican congress pretty much shut down welfare programs in America? I know the very skimpy food-stamps program still exists, and SSI. But don't "welfare programs" consume a tiny, tiny portion of the federal budget these days?

Where is my free pony? 

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8502683

[NHSparky]

Yes, welfare IS a bad thing, because it kills the incentive to seek work in far too many people.  It's not universally true, but it's amazing how quickly people will find SOMETHING when their benefits are about to run out.

[Carl]

Madam Mossfern  (1000+ posts)      Mon Jun-07-10 06:16 AM
Response to Original message
1. I am an Employment Specialist
 for New Jersey's version of Welfare to Work.
The program is broken - is is bogged down with bureaucracy and politics.
Time for a complete overhaul. I still see generation upon generation of young welfare moms who know of nothing else. The cycle has not been broken- don't get me started!

zabet  (1000+ posts)        Mon Jun-07-10 07:45 AM
Response to Original message
11. In the area I live in....
 a great number of people scam the system and get help when they do not need it. They use old married names to hide property, and use their 'maiden' name to file for benefits is one of the ways they get around the system. I personally know people who scam this system......food stamps....medic-aid....housing...the whole nine yards....and also sell the meds they get for free for additional money. This person lives better than most working people and has plenty of money to throw away. The system needs to be scrutinized....the recipients need to be vigorously scrutinized.

 

Welcome to reality DUmp!

[DumbAss Tanker]

Really more of a name change in entitlement programs than an actual end to welfare, when you drill down.  Between WIC, foodstamps, EIC/EITC, and unemployment benefits that have increased 8-fold in duration since Clinton days, we're spending more on it than ever, just under different program names.

[MrsSmith]

Really more of a name change in entitlement programs than an actual end to welfare, when you drill down.  Between WIC, foodstamps, EIC/EITC, and unemployment benefits that have increased 8-fold in duration since Clinton days, we're spending more on it than ever, just under different program names.

And most of those programs still actively discourage recipients from working as they reduce benefits by $1 for each $2 earned.  This sounds OK, until you realize that every program does it...so someone that's on 4 or 5 programs will lose a lot of money if they report any earnings.  It's a typical government thing...stupid, stupid, stupid.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Great point, MrsSmith, I hadn't ever thought about that cumulative loss issue on the 1-for-2 dollar thing where multiple benefit programs are involved.

[MrsSmith]

Great point, MrsSmith, I hadn't ever thought about that cumulative loss issue on the 1-for-2 dollar thing where multiple benefit programs are involved.

I have known people that tried to get off welfare only to find that theyir losses were far more than they could sustain.  They had to start out making more than minimum in a job with pretty decent health insurance to have any chance to succeed. The only ones I saw manage it were those that I met while in college...if they got an Associates degree in a subject that allowed them to get a decent wage.