Welfare Reform

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I don’t mind the giving – heck, I give plenty on my own without the government getting involved.  And on *some* level, I don’t mind the government getting involved.  But what I DO mind is the breaking of the social contract all while being chastised for being greedy.

If you are truly down and out – a victim of circumstance – then by all means it is the mark of a civilized people to reach out and provide a hand out and a hand up.

But when you are simply living off the labor of another man for no other reason than because you can – the time has come to end it:

…during the recession, the food stamp work requirement for able-bodied adults without dependents was suspended as part of President Barack Obama’s 2009 stimulus package. (The work requirement limits able-bodied adults without dependents to three months of food stamp benefits in a 36-month period unless they work at least part time, participate in a work program, or do community service.)

Maine, one of the most proactive states in reinstating work requirements for food stamps, saw its caseload of able-bodied adults without dependents decrease by 80 percent within just a few months after re-establishing the work requirement.

Kansas has experienced similar results, seeing its caseload decline by 75 percent. Accompanying the decline in caseload has been an increase in employment and earnings for able-bodied adults without dependents.

The Foundation for Government Accountability identified that nearly 60 percent of Kansans who left the food stamp rolls following the establishment of food stamp work requirements found employment within 12 months and, “their incomes rose by an average of 127 percent per year.”

Indiana has experienced similar outcomes. Indiana reinstated work requirements in July 2015. Six months after reinstating these requirements, the state’s caseload of able-bodied adults without dependents decreased by 68 percent.

According to Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration, “Nearly 5,000 Hoosiers who were receiving benefits in July are no longer receiving assistance because they obtained gainful employment and now have an income that exceeds eligibility standards.”

If you CAN work but don’t, and have no dependents living with you, the time has come to admit that you are simply taking free stuff – all the while, likely receiving wages under the table in the form of cash.

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