When Maine Required Childless Adults to Work to Get Food Stamps, Guess What Happened

CNS News ^ | February 9, 2016 | Robert Rector and Rachel Sheffield

[BradtotheBone]

One trillion dollars—that’s how much the government spent last year on means-tested welfare aid, providing cash, food, housing, medical care, and social services to poor and low-income individuals. The food stamp program is the nation’s second largest welfare program.

The number of food stamp recipients has risen dramatically, from 17.2 million in 2000 to 45.8 million in 2015. Costs have soared over the same period, from $20.7 billion in 2000 to $83.1 billion in 2014.

The most rapid growth in the food stamp caseload in recent years has been among able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs). These are work-capable adult recipients between the ages of 18 and 49 who do not have children or other dependents to support.

Job openings for lower-skill workers are abundant in Maine, and for those ABAWD recipients who cannot find immediate employment, Maine offers both training and community service slots. But despite vigorous outreach efforts by the government to encourage participation, most childless adult recipients in Maine refused to participate in training or even to perform community service for six hours per week. When ABAWD recipients refused to participate, their food stamp benefits ceased.

[Gaffer]

For much of them, SNAP is a freebie bennie. Only good as long as it doesn’t require any work. It saves cash for wine, beer, smokes and lottos.

[maddog55]

Off the books or under the table jobs and double dippers are rampant everywhere.

Nice to see LePages’ program working. This should be a national requirement but if that happened then Dems would lose a lot of votes.

[SkyPilot]

They even purchase cases of water in states that have a return bottle fee, dump out the fresh spring water, and take the bottle refunds to buy cans of Malt Liquor. Moreover, we are the only nation in the history of humanity to have Obese poor people.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

[Carthego delenda est]

Could probably see many more people leave the food stamp program if drug testing became mandatory in order to receive benefits, and to avoid appearing cold hearted, a person could still receive benefits if they enrolled in a drug/alcohol treatment program, but it would have the same effect as being told to look for a job. They’d probably bail out on the food stamps rather than give up drugs or seek help. I suspect that most of those who refused to look for a job or do the six hours of community service are also substance abusers.

[jch10]

Those mean Republicans are being RACISS again!

[9YearLurker]

And once they become 50 they don’t count any more?

How about the ABAWDS from 50-65?

[LambSlave]

As I showed in a previous post, they ALL WENT ON FEDERAL DISABILITY INSTEAD. None of them went back to work, or moved. If anyone believes these intergenerational leeches actually go back to work you are dreaming. You have to cut off the full spigot, or they will just find another bennies program, with the full assistance of an army of social workers.

[ghosthost]

work to get taxpayer paid food stamps. ? there shouldn’t even stood stamps your family should take care of you, not your allow citizens. Build a wall, deport, end food stamps and other programs and I mea. all of them. I take care of myself and my family and I expect the same fromeveryone else.

[kearnyirish2]

That’s exactly right; disability has become the new welfare. It isn’t held to the limitations set by the 1996 welfare reform, and it is unrestricted CASH (which qualifies you for all the other freebies).

Minimum wage increases proponents know that unless someone working a crappy job has a better standard of living than gibsmedats, there is simply no incentive to work at all. Rather than reduce the easy life of the gibsmedat, they want to (slightly) better the standard of living for the braceros.

[4Liberty]

Bump

[Gay State Conservative]

What happened?

Let me guess...they became "un-childless" in short order.

[Cowgirl of Justice]

How about testing for nicotine.

While that sounds very Nanny State-ish, they can use their $300 a month to eat or smoke but not both well. At the Harris Teeter customer service grocery store counter, I saw that cigarettes were $10 a pack. At a pack a day that’s $300 a month.

[bigtoona]

The commie in chief removed the work qualifiers for welfare and the lazy flocked to the benefits. They know that once you get millions onto the dole, any effort to reduce or take away the benefits will be political suicide.

We are now a nation of people who no longer hold the rule of law as the highest standard. We now measure everything against a fake standard...will people think I’m mean? Or a racist? Example: “Enforcing immigration laws is wrong, it goes against our American values, that is not who we are!” I hear this crap repeated over and over even at the local level now.

[seeker7_dj]

So let me get this right.. I work to have my tax money go towards buying Democratic votes ~ and I’m a Republican. Whatta country!!

[i_robot73]

....while rubbing your nose in their violations of the 5th and 13th, daring you to do ANYTHING ‘bout it.

[JoeFromSidney]

Several years go I went through the Statistical Abstract of the United States and added up all the money going for means-tested income transfer programs. That is, you had to be poor to get the money, and you didn't have to do anything other than be poor to qualify for it. I divided the total by the number of people the Census said were below the poverty level. At that time, it came out to over $5000 for every man, woman and child in poverty. The number is certainly higher now.

Statistically, we've abolished poverty in the USA. The money, if it actually went to the poor, would put them in the middle class.

It's long past time to stop letting "the poor" be used as a weapon against the productive and enterprising. We've done more than our "fair share" toward raising the poor out of poverty.