Posted on 11/02/2013 3:46:03 AM PDT by Kaslin
My parents were children during the Great Depression, and it scarred them, especially my father, who saw destitution in his Brooklyn, N.Y., neighborhood: adults standing in so-called "bread lines," children begging in the streets. My grandfather was a New York City cop, and so my dad did not suffer as others did. But he never forgot the brutal scenes and worked hard his whole life to build some financial independence.
Fast-forward to the severe recession of 2008, when millions of Americans lost jobs and equity in their homes. No bread lines, but much pain. The Obama administration responded by pouring trillions of dollars into stimulus and rescue programs, some of which succeeded in stabilizing tottering banks and auto companies. But along with that, the president and his acolytes openly encouraged Americans to use the welfare system. And now the entitlement culture has exploded.
According to the Census Bureau, more people in America today are on welfare than have full-time jobs. There is a culture of dependency being created that is truly shocking. A recent study by the Cato Institute concludes that welfare now pays more than minimum-wage work in 35 states. So why enter the workforce at the bottom if the government will give you the same compensation for sitting on your butt?
Some believe that the Democratic Party, which champions the entitlement culture, is doing so to assure future votes from those receiving benefits. And right now, about half of all American households are getting some kind of compensation from the feds. Some of that, such as Social Security and Medicare, has been earned. But nearly 50 million Americans are receiving food stamps, and 83 million are on Medicaid.
The United States became the world's strongest economy by folks working hard. Layabouts and people who game the system actually harm our country. Safety nets for the poor and disadvantaged are a must for any compassionate nation, but encouraging folks to go on the dole when it's not absolutely necessary is disgraceful.
And that's what the Obama administration is doing. How else can you explain a 40 percent rise in food stamp recipients in just three years (2009 to 2011, the last statistics available) and a rise of 15 percent in federal disability payments over the same period of time? Is the workplace that dangerous? Really?
As a person who has worked extremely hard for more than 40 years, I don't want my tax dollars going to drunkards and drug addicts. And in America, there is no substance testing for welfare recipients. Every time that comes up, the civil liberties lobby screams.
America has become a much weaker nation since 2001. The wars we have fought to protect ourselves against terrorism have drained our treasury and created a deep distrust of authority. The hope and change espoused by President Obama has led to chaos in the health care arena and a massive entitlement industry that is growing larger every day.
Unless the voters wise up and get back to self-reliance and responsible government, this nation will continue down the Nanny State road. That path is unsustainable. But even worse, it is un-American
What was the name of the idiot news reader on the old Mary Tyler Moore show? Ah, Ted Baxter! This is what Rush calls him. Every once in a while he seems to wake up just a little, but then...
Well as the old saying goes, “even a broken clock is RIGHT twice a day.”
He had throw that one in to keep his NY-DC street cred and "fairness".
Do me a favor. Comment on the subject, not on the author. You are a waste
“According to the Census Bureau, more people in America today are on welfare than have full-time jobs. There is a culture of dependency being created that is truly shocking. A recent study by the Cato Institute concludes that welfare now pays more than minimum-wage work in 35 states. So why enter the workforce at the bottom if the government will give you the same compensation for sitting on your butt?”
The reason to work (even if the wages are low) are to avoid being housed in a wekfare reservation. I have no sympathy for lazy people who lose their children to the violence of these reservations because they didn’t want to get off their butts and work. While FReepers are rightly disgusted by our multi-generational parasite population, nobody would want to trade places with them; they accept life in a war zone in return for sitting on their duffs and swelling to 400 lbs. - consequences for their “golden ticket” bastards be damned.
Bill is just now discovering the “culture of dependency”? That topic was heatedly discussed forty years ago or more when LBJ’s War On Poverty reached fruition with many millions of people added to the welfare rolls by its passage. We all know the drill...conservatives will (rightly) bemoan the waste of taxpayer money and the loss of dignity. The liberals will respond by calling conservatives mean-spirited uh meanies who want to take the bread out of starving babies’ mouths. Nothing ever changes.
Actually, what that was once true, it is no longer. All over the country welfare project housing has been demolished and replaced by Section 8 housing. Ever since Newt Gingrich's time as Speaker, the US Government has been slowly, methodically, incrementally expanding that program while demolishing 'standard public housing projects'. EVERYWHERE. They now infiltrate suburbia by paying nearly all the rent for a 'client' in nice areas, in houses that nearly always start out as 'nice," too. Most get TANF, WICs (for children under 5), SNAP, EITC, etc. and their incomes aren't really verified. In East Cobb, Georgia the government systematically started changing the demographics as revenge against Newt Gingrich's former district. Today, you have that area with million dollar home enclaves surrounded by big, older subdivisions that are replete with Section 8 recipients. That's one of the main reasons I moved from there 12 years ago.
Rush called him “bill baxter” yesterday and it has a much deeper sting to it!
Sez who. They did it by mistreating the poor, especially minorities, especially blacks. /s
Excellent point, and neither have I.
We’re repeating the mistakes of Communists around the world.
40 years ago, would be 1973. He was still in school then, but how do you know he just found out about this?
Thank the rats for it and also those who rather sit at home instead of making sure the rat party becomes the majority party
It's not just disgraceful...
"If a man does not choose to work, neither shall he eat." --St. Paul
This has to be the least preached-on verse in the Bible.
I doubt that they associate cause and effect. I'm sure the majority of them place the blame elsewhere. And we all know their list of usual suspects.
Bill removed his lips from Obamas ass long enough to write this..
I’m neither amused or fooled by Bill O’Really..
BTTP
All what that arrogant pos occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave deserves is disrespect, because he himself does not respect the office.
Chalk it up to human nature.
Sad to see decades of hard work squandered on a bunch of spoiled children, as it were.
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