Posted on 06/04/2009 12:50:55 PM PDT by SmithL
Could California become the first state in the nation to do away with welfare?
That doomsday scenario is on the table as lawmakers wrestle with a staggering $24.3 billion budget deficit.
County welfare directors are "in shock" at the very idea of getting rid of CalWORKs, which has been widely viewed as one of the most successful social programs in the state's history, said Bruce Wagstaff, director of the Department of Human Assistance in Sacramento.
"It's difficult to come up with the right adjective to react to this," Wagstaff said. "It would be devastating to the people we serve."
H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the state Department of Finance, said California is in an unprecedented fiscal situation that has made all programs, from education to human services, vulnerable to deep and painful reductions.
"I don't wish for a moment to minimize the profound impact" that eliminating CalWORKs would have, Palmer said. "But the easy decisions are way past being in the rearview mirror for us. We face the specter of California not having cash on hand to pay its bills in July."
Wagstaff and other administrators are betting that the state will rescue the "welfare to work" program. But they are bracing for cuts that would slash benefits to the lowest levels since the late 1990s, when CalWORKs began as part of the federal government's bold reform of the welfare system.
"It would be a huge regression," said Nancy O'Hara, assistant director of the Yolo County Department of Employment and Social Services. "My mind reels just thinking about all of this."
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
The government will cut everything that taxpayers pay for before they will go after salaries, perks and pensions.
“Do away with welfare?”
A “doomsday scenario?”
Uhhh...I’m not making the connection here. Seems to me that runaway spending on welfare, especially for illegal immigrants, IS the doomsday scenario.
I can’t say whether this specific program is good or not, but
I CAN say that it is S.O.P. for big-government types to promote cuts in programs that ARE successful, that DO save money, precisely so that — a year or three later — they can say, See? Cutting didn’t work! Now shut up and raise taxes.
Memo to California lawmakers:
THERE’S NO MORE MONEY. WE’RE BROKE!
Painful to whom? Not to us taxpayers. Bring out the biggest damned axes we've got.
how about fire bureaucrats and government employees first?? How about dumping illegal aliens first?
Maybe they will get rid of this and start to realize governments in this country were not ever supposed to steal money from people with income to hand out to those with no income, no matter what the circumstances.
I doubt this will happen though as welfare is the direct way of all politicians to buy votes.
Government welfare is bad for people and families. This will allow the church step in and aid the poor in spirit and in meterial wealth. This is a win-win for all concerned.
Government welfare is bad for people and families. This will allow the church step in and aid the poor in spirit and in meterial wealth. This is a win-win fr all concerned.
im not a very religious person but that made me smile.
...but I do have strong morals and values that I try to follow from the teachings of God almighty.
I used to think there wasn’t a God,but
now I know I was truly wrong.
Or how about just giving benefits to, y’know, actual citizens?
I declare, Miss O’Hara, your mind is jes’ reelin’!
I see no problem with churches asking for more ‘voluntary’ donations for the poor. (And the churches who are closer to the problems know who the ‘poor’ are.)
I graduated from Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University and donate 10-15% of my income to charity because I am blessed. (Not rich, but blessed.)
But...but....but...
is the money for the sea otters safe?
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