no pity for the lazy...
Posted on 04/08/2015 5:30:14 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine
Maine finally took a bold step forward in welfare reform and it’s paying huge dividends.
Last year Maine passed a measure that would require recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, otherwise known as SNAP, to complete a certain number of work, volunteer, or job-training hours before being eligible for assistance.
Main Governor Paul LaPage passed the measure last year and the resulting drop in food-stamp enrollees has been dramatic.
At the close of 2014 approximately 12,000 individuals were enrolled in the state assistance program. Keep in mind that these individuals are adults who aren’t disabled and who don’t have children at home and who are claiming the food-stamp benefits because of a lack of financial resources.
After forcing these individuals to either work part-time for twenty hours each week, enroll in a vocational program, or volunteer for a minimum of twenty-four hours per month, the numbers showed a significant drop from 12,000 enrollees to just over 2,500.
Republicans in the state are calling it a major victory, while Democrats are infuriated and are calling for special measures to roll back some of the strict requirements.
However, even if the requirements lose some of their strictness, once an individual is removed from the Maine food-stamp program they cannot receive benefits from the program for three years.
This is a true victory for welfare reform, and, while opponents are continuing to push back, we can hope that other states will notice the effectiveness of Maine’s program.
Meanwhile, for all the naysayers who say that this program is unfairly targeting those in rural or extremely poor areas, let’s remind ourselves who this program is really affecting.
These individuals who were benefiting from the food-stamp law and who now can’t are able-bodied, capable adults. These aren’t people with physical or mental disabilities or raising growing children. These are regular Joes who don’t seem to want to get a job.
And while I will say that getting a job can be harder than it sounds, Maine’s program solves that difficulty beautifully. If individuals can’t get and hold a part-time job of twenty hours per week, they can qualify by enrolling in training program. If that doesn’t get them a job, they can still qualify by volunteering.
Do you see what Maine did there? They’re making people exhaust their possibilities for employment before giving them a handout. Finally a state government has hit upon a great way to reward people for trying to get jobs and to punish those who sit around feeding off the taxes of the rest of the country.
Now the struggle remains for the rest of the country to work to adopt similarly effective laws.
Cracking Down on Maine’s Welfare Reform
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/393552/cracking-down-maines-welfare-reform-jillian-kay-melchior
26NOV2014
(excerpt)
Governor LePage reins in entitlement abuse, and the Obama administration objects.
Maine’s Republican governor won re-election largely on his welfare-reform agenda — and the federal government is not pleased. Late last week, the Obama administration threatened to cut federal funding over one of Maine’s new anti-fraud measures, while the LePage administration began marketing its aggressive reform agenda to a national audience. Grab the popcorn. Statewide reform in Maine was overdue; the state’s unemployment rate is a mere 5.6 percent, but one in five residents receives food-stamp benefits, the state’s Department of Health and Human Services reports. Meanwhile, fraud and abuse cost Maine an estimated $3.7 million every year.
Maybe they can head to California. I read their legislature is working on a plan to supplement the federal EITC with an additional 30% state money.
Paul Lepage is a true hero. He makes Christie look like a wimp and he is the real deal.
Maybe LePage should throw his hat into the ring for POTUS!
Start demanding these types of things on general Welfare recipients. Those numbers would drop too.
Some of this was already done under the Republican plan during Clinton’s term in office. I think more could be done.
I also think they should be honest with the public about how part time work is considered full time employment for the unemployment statistics.
Unemployment remains artificially low, because someone working one or two four or eight hours shifts per week are considered employed. They still get Welfare benefits too.
The government games they system so much...
“I am for doing good to the poor, but...I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. I observed...that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.”—Benjamin Franklin
Maine was +15 Baraq in 2012.
How did this guy pull it off?
Good question. Bears repeating.
No, I don’t think he would make a good president, presidents need to lead and get people behind them.
Lepage is more pit bull. He would do best in the cabinet in charge of oh, the dept of Education or the EPA or the Interior. He would be a housecleaner of magnificent proportions.
BTW, the next admin to come in nationally needs to request every bureaucrat resignation and tell them all to reapply. Time to clean the rats nests out of the government.
No welfare recipient should EVER get lobster!
The comments on the bottom are great.
I thought I was reading Free Republic there for a moment with the grammar Nazis.
Great that everything is working out in Maine. A success story for sure.
a lot of people, though dislikeing his personal style, liked his results. Had a number of leftists who cornered me and said I am voting for Lepage.
Why? They could see the good results of a state getting back under control fiscally.
He is now trying to eliminate the income tax and shift it to property taxes. Not popular. But what it does is take money away from bureaucrats. Hoo hoo you should see how the hospitals and other agencies are fighting having their gravy trains dry up.
The entire welfare state needs to be destroyed. Its premise is to buy votes for one group while stealing from another.
It will exist as long as we have have present currency and financial system.
Welfare reform was a large part of the 2012-2013 budget, which emphasized Maine will no longer be considered a welfare destination state.
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This has been killing the state. It along with Catholic Charities brought in Somalis from other states when their refugee resettlement people from overseas dried up.
Social workers across the country keep info for the homeless on where to go for best bennies and Maine has always been generous to people who were stuck. But it become a flood and overwhelmed this state with a population of just over a million. Although we have a small population we were supporting a homeless population for a much larger state.
Lobsters used to be so plentiful, they would feed them to prisoners. They complained about the diet.
By the way, they are delicious and nutritious. And cheap too.
By the way, they are delicious and nutritious. And cheap too.
no pity for the lazy...
Good info.
Thanks!
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