re: Welfare. Discussion starts here, let's see where it takes us.

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I believe in social safety nets. I don't agree with welfare's current form. I don't agree with food stamps being a blank debit card you can use however you choose. I don't agree with welfare making people comfortable. I think the epidemic of overspending doesn't need to start with addressing welfare, but I think it should get there eventually. There are much bigger problems than the overspending relating to welfare. I essentially disagree with the arguments presented by both sides.

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Agree with most of this. Welfare is vitally important in a civilized society. There are many problems with it right now that need addressing, but I get really riled up when people vilify welfare recipients as the problem.

Hence the

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mandatory drug testing for all welfare participents should be the norm.

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Florida tried this and it turned into a colossal waste of money, and didn't really have an impact. I think the courts even ruled it unconstitutional.


I don't disagree with the idea of it though, but offer drug counseling while receiving the benefits or something.

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I get really riled up when people vilify welfare recipients as the problem.

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Whose vilifying them? The system is a giant clusterfrick. While I think it is completely unethical to take advantage of it, it's the government's fault it is the way it is.

To tout it as a campaigning ploy as discussed earlier is even more unethical IMO.

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That is such a misleading title. A good many people on welfare do work, they just work crappy jobs that don't pay well.

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The average poor household has about 1/2 FTE in work hours per year according to the BOL. So, no, they're not usually working.

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I saw you left out the first line in that link, which solidifies my point.

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These 11 States now have More People on Welfare than they do Employed!

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Dude that's the fricking first line of the OP.

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Whose vilifying them?

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Republican lawmakers and politicians, right-wing blogs, Fox News, etc.

Guys like Rep. Stephen Fincher from Tennessee that has received millions in farm subsidies.

LINK

I don't have a problem with vilifying people who are able to work and game the system instead.

I don't have a problem vilifying the rich who game the system either.

It's why villifying exists. It's useful.

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11 States That Have More People On Welfare Than Working

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bullshite.

Unless they are counting SS and Medicare as welfare, which would make the finding actively deceptive. Good start.

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Total number of Americans on food stamps 46,700,000

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That's roughly 15 percent of the population.

I'd agree that's a troubling figure. The question though is why?

I believe the ballooning of those numbers has quite a bit to do with the recession and fallout from it. It's been stagnant at the bottom and food prices aren't getting lower. You can thank Ethanol subsidies for that. There's actually a decent argument that ethanol subsidies were a major player in the recession, but that's for another topic another day.

Through that line of reasoning, I believe welfare numbers to be more of a barometer of how the economy is for the lower classes. It's still not very good.

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Number of U.S. States where Welfare pays more than the average salary of a U.S. Teacher 8

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That's a horrifying statistic.

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At the end of 2011, the last year for which data are available, some 108.6 million people received one or more means-tested government benefit programs — bureaucratese for welfare. Meanwhile, there were just 101.7 million people with full-time jobs, the Census data show, including both the private and government sectors.

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I want to see how they get those numbers for full time work. Remember that isn't counting old people and students/children. Yet they would be counted for people receiving a benefit. It's not a straight apples to apples comparison. Again, the numbers are a bit misleading.

Still, it's a high number of people receiving benefits. Most of that was from Medicaid and SNAP. Which should be no surprise.

I think Welfare is too hyper-politicized. It's just another issue to keep us fighting with each other. More sinister, it shines a light into the bad side of greed that drives our economy. Can't let people who need help have some of MY money! At the same time abuse of the system is a drain on the economy and gives the other side all the more reason to rail against it. It's really just a symptom of the larger problems within our economy.

Cutting obstructive government regulations, a focus on education, actual healthcare reform (not insurance reform a la Obamacare), getting rid of the Ethanol subsidies, ect. to shape a healthier economy will lower our costs on these transfer payments. It's much easier to bitch about welfare queens and propose cutting welfare than to actually think about and work on the problems at hand.