I don’t want to minimize the suffering of folks on SS and SSI, nor do I impugn those who are truly disabled, but perhaps the silver lining in this will be to help people reconnect with their own family and faiths and start behaving as though their lives depended on it.
Most of these people have no families. Some of the people I met who were ripped off by relatives who used the SSI scam. The churches of our land don't care and pay no heed to the lords commands to help the poor. We NEED to minimize their suffering but the current system we have won't work. We have to many regulations and restrictions keeping people out of the work force. IE: YOu need a social security card and photo ID or no work, the employers have to pay fees and taxes that make them cut jobs and wages. Some of these people are handicapped and can't work. In addition, the family system is in shambles and people are getting benefits because they dont want to work, just do drugs and make trouble.
At best the ONLY time government should give out benefits is if the recipient is unable to work because he is to old, physically or mentally challenged or out of their mind. THAT'S IT! Nothing for people who CAN work for a living.
“At best the ONLY time government should give out benefits is if the recipient is unable to work because he is to old, physically or mentally challenged or out of their mind. THAT’S IT! Nothing for people who CAN work for a living.”
That would clearly be the ideal situation. While I know that the disabled have been used and abused by family members, I also think we need to start relying on those traditional supports more. The federal government is too easily both the abuser and the abused in these situations and a lot of it comes down to a loss of real morality, dignity and honor among the citizenry. We have beatified indolence and demonized industry. We have sat quietly by while our society defines its values as immediate gratification, no matter the long-term costs. Families have been decimated by government policy and need to be built up again.
BTW, my church maintains a significant welfare program which requires recipients to rely first on themselves, then their families and church last, and requires some labor in return for the benefits. The benefits are rarely cash, instead it is usually food and assistance by congregation members with talents to help. The guiding rule is that the welfare help maintains a life but not a lifestyle. If it is apparent the person is living beyond their means, or wants money to maintain an unrealistic mortgage or credit card bills, the person is counseled on how to restructure their lifestyle to a more realistic one for them.
We can’t control that societal decay through better government programs. The best we can do is try to control the costs while turning society back to the bedrock values that built this country. By all means, there are many, many people who need and deserve to have government support. But there are many, many others who have no higher ambitions when they finish their formal education than to live on government largesse because that is what their parents did or their friends are doing. The root of the problem is the idea that government can meet our needs. That’s something which needs to be tackled as it will take another generation or two to reverse the slide. There needs to be increasing consequences to making bad decisions. Unfortunately, I see no one in power willing to tackle such a task. They seldom look beyond the next election and what government funds can purchase in terms of votes.