So we have read delalluvia's very specific recommendations for fixing the welfare system.
But broketrash, I guess I'm not clear on exactly what you're advocating, aside from instituting a consumption tax. You have complained that the poor should not receive assistance to pay for food, medical care, education, etc. So are you saying those programs should all be eliminated? That the poor and their children should be required to fend for themselves, even if it means starving or dying for lack of medical care? And not only that, but -- via the consumption tax -- to pay A HIGHER PROPORTION of their income than more affluent people do for these basic necessities and other goods and services?
Hello crayons, hope you had a great day, it was a helluva blow here! had wind gusts up to 50 mph, blew me right off the jogging trail with dust in my eyes! You have asked me to offer a sample of my proposed solutions to what I see as the current mess of a welfare system, which in reality is a self perpetuating poverty creating mechanism.
Without going into all of the many, many programs which I feel the Federal government has no place being involved in, I will start by saying that welfare is one of those programs.
The Federal gov needs to get out of the poverty pimping programs and turn everything over to the states, local gov, and private charities.
I advocate "federal" (as opposed to the Federal gov) solutions to the challenges facing the US. And one of those challenges is the intractable nature of an underclass that continuously perpetuates itself generation after generation. This underclass is a huge burden on the tax payers who have to pay for the welfare programs, and the commiserate crime that grows out of dysfunctional neighborhoods. The federal programs designed by LBJ and his consorts as a "War on Poverty" back in the 1960's have failed utterly to eliminate poverty. They have in fact lead to the current situation of the plague of men who dog women leaving them pregnant and on WIC, etc. Notice, I am blaming the men and the women. Why are the men able to abandon the women and their children so easily? Because they know that the welfare system will feed, clothe, medicate, and educate their progeny. There is no motivation to stay and be the fathers that they should be. And because welfare benefits are tied to the size of families, the women have no motivation to use readily available birth control and abortion.
The federal gov having failed in this attempt at social engineering should back out completely from this endeavor and allow the states to find their own individual solutions to the problem within each state's borders. The founders intended the states to act as laboratories when they set up the union, and this is a perfect opportunity for the states to find solutions that work for them. The value of a "federal" union, is that some states will succeed, and others will fail, but all will learn and eventually emulate the winners if the Federal gov in DC would get its carcass out of the way.
what are my specific reforms which I would advocate in my home state?1) The states need to regulate procreation in all recipients of welfare aid. if a person can not afford to raise children, then they shouldn't be allowed to have them, by law.
Birth control pills then should be mandatory for welfare recipients to continue to receive aid. Male birth control pills should also be mandatory. additional pregnancies should be viewed then as a disqualifier for continued aid. Periodic mandatory pregnancy tests should be a part of the qualifying procedures for aid, with periodic followups.
2) The fathers need to be tracked down and forced to contribute to the family income. If they refuse, then we need to revive the prison farm system. The productive work of raising commodities for sale can be applied to individual families. Repeat male offenders should be forceably sterilized.
3) Abortion needs to remain legal and safe, and this is not just a cast off comment. The Roberts court will probably invalidate Roe this next term. If Roe is invalidated, then the matter of abortion will return to the states. In my home state, I will be among the minority of conservatives who wish to keep abortion as a legal but restricted option.
4) Educational reform : it is crucial that we offer a relevant quality education to those who are at the highest risk to becoming a burden on the tax payers. (
this is tied into my belief that the Federal gov has no business being in the education business. I want the states and local gov to handle all matters involved in education.)
On each state level, I would advocate an educational system which continues free education at the primary and secondary levels. Additionally, at the high school levels, the system should break into two paths - one for academics, another for technical and trade schools. We are presently in all of the states wasting billions in federal and state aid to education encouraging nonacademically qualified students into attending college. This is a disservice to the tax payers and the child.
And, just as in the two track high school system, we need a two track system in higher education. Academia and Trade/Technical schools. This is the model that has been used in Germany for generations with a great deal of success. If we can offer students a useful education that trains them in relevant job skills leading to an apprenticeship program and a guaranteed job at the end of their studies, we will have moved a long ways towards solving the problems of the perpetual underclass.
Additionally, I would advocate making all tuition, fees, and learning materials FREE to all students who enter the higher educational system, whether they go the academic route or the trade/tech route. It is absurd that students must go into debt in order to complete a course of college studies! I agree with Michelle Obama'a gripe about the student loan trap. Its time to fix that.
The key to eliminating the underclass problem is for early intervention before the person in question enters the underclass.
5) Shame should be reintroduced as a societal deterrent to unwed and unsupported pregnancies. (I would definitely include the men on the wall of shame as well) those who are a burden on society should feel its disapproval in order to function as an object lesson for those who have yet to enter underclass behavior.
6) Those who receive welfare aid should also be required to offer community service such as cleaning up the parks. It is not acceptable to take the income from others without showing gratitude. We should make it very clear that welfare assistance is NOT AN ENTITLEMENT, and it is not a permanent condition.
7) Those who make the transition from welfare to productive careers should be publicly honored for their achievement. Creating a positive role model.
have a great night!