The single mother argument is not an argument for welfare unless she is a widow. That is a matter for the civil courts.
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We definitely need to make some serious changes to the welfare system. First, persons using welfare benefits should be required to pass drug tests. If they are receiving government funds we need to be sure they are not spending it to get high. Welfare funds should be restricted for how they can be used. Rent? The funds should be directly paid to the landlord. Food? Funds should be restricted so they cannot be used on alcohol, tobacco, soda & junk food, etc. If you are spending taxpayer dollars there needs to be accountability for where it is going.
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We all know it’s a Ponzi scheme but let’s not forget we were forced into the program. Calling it out would have been like spitting into the wind.
I guarantee this is not always the case. Absolutely, some take advantage of the system. I was a single mom for several years and Hillary Clinton had pushed through work requirements and a 5 year time limit for TANF. My son’s father stopped paying child support and I was going to college part-time and working part-time with an infant. They told me I qualified when my ex stopped paying child support for the amount I was no longer receiving. The catch was the months I received counted against my five year total limit and when I received my child support every penny with interest had to be paid back. I don’t agree if I am having to pay back into the system. I also don’t agree with it counting against my time and not the dead beat dad.
After receiving three months I was hit with a work requirement that said I had to find full time employment in order to continue receiving benefits. I could not balance that schedule with college classes and caring for my son. I was working as much as I could to pay for daycare, and other necessities while bettering myself by going to college. College did not count toward my employment requirement.
It’s broken all the way around. The system punishes people who are trying to pull themselves up and allows others to take advantage of it.
My biggest concern is care for those that are left behind by modern society. As society advances, those that are infirm and have less ability to keep up with the evolution of advanced job need some sort of social structure to support them . Jordan Peterson has spoken on this obligation and even Elon Musk has spoken in the past that basic income might be necessary for some in more intellectually advanced societies that find no job available for their ability.
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TN has a great law that goes with unemployment. They have to seek employment every week and certify every week. The fed gov could do this with welfare and foodstamps.
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I 100% agree! Not only should there be a timetable cap on the duration a recipient is allowed to recieve benefits if they are deemed eligible, but I also think that any benefits a recipient is receiving in their time of need should be capped at what they qualified for at the time they applied. Meaning, they will get no additional cash benefits in the event of another birth.
States could/should require and provide training to recipients for skills on how to do things like budgeting, properly filling out a job application, building a resumé, and interviewing effectively.
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My problem with this is that you are debating not feeding innocent kids at the same time as literally billions is sent overseas to money laundering in wars and foreign aid.
Limit welfare to food only maybe. People need to eat, and some adults will spend money on anything but food. No, food must be high quality and very easy for people of all income levels to get.
Also, there are people like me who have been poisoned by chemicals sprayed on farmland that should have been illegal. Diagnosis of certain toxins is next to impossible. On paper, people like me are healthy but lazy. In reality, very few employers want to deal with the health limitations I have. Doctors just give excuses and don’t even write notes about what physical problems are well known and easily documented, because tying the symptoms to a problem would make industry liable for huge lawsuits.
No, food must be very widely available. Save money from laundering and such. Kids need to eat no matter what dome parents do, and certain hard to diagnose individuals like myself do need to eat also. Food can be cheap enough to not be a drain on others.
One of the first things the administration needs to do is walk in to social services and have them down load a list of every EBT card with a balance over $200.00. Then find out if they are a non-citizen, and claw back the balance and turn off the card. Next terminate any access to medicaid and or social security. Do this for every illegal person in our country. They will find out that the democrats lied to them and want to go home.
I totally agree and make it temporary.
I 100% agree!
If you work for a decade and lose your job, you receive six months of unemployment benefits.
Seniors dedicate their entire lives to their careers and receive minimal compensation, while simultaneously bearing the financial burden of all their medications and co-pays. In contrast, welfare recipients receive comprehensive assistance without any financial contribution to society. Despite their ability to work, they choose not to engage in employment and instead opt to have children when they cannot afford them, relying on government support.
To address this disparity, let’s implement a system that provides free healthcare for seniors.
Welfare was originally designed to assist individuals in regaining their footing after facing financial hardships, not as a means of sustaining a career. The program needs a maximum of five years of assistance, followed by a requirement to work for three to five years before new eligibility is granted.
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I don’t think most people understand that a LOT of US soldiers and their families are on Welfare. And Veterans. Like A LOT. It is not as simple as it seems once you look into it further. But the system needs a lot of fixing. Some of the hardest working people in this country are on welfare. It isn’t all just lazy people getting something for nothing. It is also structured to keep people trapped in poverty because they cannot save while on it to improve their family’s lives and get out of the system. There are people with PTSD, agoraphobia and other complex issues who are in survival mode and this system is a Godsend for them and children who depend on them. People who have not received adequate treatments to help them recover so they can regain their function. I’ve met single moms and two parent families working multiple jobs and in such poverty they are on welfare so their kids have health insurance and food. I implore anyone making a snap judgement about this topic to learn more about it. I wholeheartedly agree it is a system abused by many, and there are tons of flaws. But it is very sobering when you stop judging people stuck in this system and start understanding the people, the system itself and the circumstances around the topic! 
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I believe all government welfare programs, from section8, utility assistance, food programs to Obama phones and everything else, should come with a 1099 form or something similar to help track the total amount of programs in dollars that are being collected by individuals and their dependents. This would cap all benefits as a set level and help eliminate duplicate programs from different departments. Counting it as income for tracking poverty levels and for eligibility of other programs and or reducing benefits based on $ amounts.
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Also there should be a limit on how many kids you can receive benefits FOR and conditions under one can receive them. They should only be issued for one child for unmarried women and NO subsequent children. Exceptions should only allowed for married, divorced and widowed.
The intent in your statement is sound, however, in order to accomplish this you would need to provide better childcare and transportation solutions for underserved communities. I understand your example but what about a married couple with two infants where one works and one stays home to care for the children because the cost of daycare is more than that parent would earn (this is a common theme because private childcare is very expensive)? Now we would be expecting that parent to get a job that paid enough to provide childcare and to buy another car (possibly) if there wasn’t adequate public transportation. I completely agree with 80% of what you are saying but it isn’t enough.
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And add random drug testing to anyone on welfare!
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I agree. Welfare should be set up more like unemployment. Also. If the folks on welfare cant find a job, they are given a job. There are plenty of things they can do in their own city. Pick up litter, paint over graffiti, landscape, work in a community garden, womens shelters, churches, park districts. There is NEVER a shortage of projects.
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I have seen first hand people abusing the welfare system and i have seen how the system tries to keep people ON welfare who want to get off. It is a broken system that needs a revamp. It should be used as a temporary measure to help those in immediate need. Not a lifetime source of food and income for able bodied people who do not want to work
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I do agree, children and individuals need to eat. I do not believe that is a matter for the Welfare system to handle alone though. This is where other programs are meant to be utilized and I truly believe they will be with the incoming administration, separate from the Welfare system.
As someone who struggles due to illness, I get it. Finding work is difficult when you are dealing with unpredictability of a diagnosis that can have you fine one moment and crippled in one way or another the next. For Veterans, the VA is in need of a huge reform. Perhaps another need is one of available employment information for people who do struggle with these things or a shift in aid to provide for those who can verifiably no longer work.
100% agree with the need for opportunities for transportation and childcare for the underserved communities.
I think the easiest way to remove illegals is to just turn off the spigot. If we stop giving out money they will stop coming and I think a large percentage will leave on their own. That’s how it used to be when my grandparents came over, you had to make it on your own, there wasn’t welfare for them.
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