Editorial - 12 Dec 2011
Welfare Abuse Hurts Everyone
In the editorial “Food stamp recipients are the new welfare queens” the Sun sets up a false argument by suggesting that Republicans are in favor of welfare payments to wealthy corporations but not individuals. That’s not true. Few Republicans are in favor of corporate welfare payments, and Obama is not immune from such feelings himself
In fact, outrage over corporate bailouts was in large measure what inspired the origins of the Tea Party. However, whereas conservatives are quick to point out that both corporate welfare abuse and individual welfare abuse are wrong, the Sun finds fault only in the former. The Sun does not and never did believe in holding individuals accountable for making poor choices or abusing scarce public resources.
That’s why the Sun has no problem with women who receive food stamps for many consecutive years, while continuing to get have more babies while on public assistance. That’s why the Sun has no problem with adults who use food stamps to purchase unhealthy snack food, leaving young children to nutritionally fend for themselves, despite the fact that it would be relatively simple to electronically limit the purchase of undesirable, child-unfriendly food. That’s why the Sun has no problem with politicians who, in exchange for votes, set up a system that inexplicably allows the purchase of crab meat (which has almost no nutritional value), live crabs, live lobsters, lattes, cappuccino’s and other expensive foods that many people outside the welfare system can not afford to purchase for their own families. That’s why the Sun has no problem with the recurring cash-assistance scandals, with cash assistance cards being used at casinos, and for the purchase of alcohol and tobacco.
It's not just millionaires or evil businessmen who get hurt by the welfare fraud taking place. Every time a cappuccino gets purchased with welfare dollars, the child the money is intended to be assisting gets hurt. Every time a bushel of crabs is purchased with welfare dollars, either a child will not be getting the nutrition they need or the USDA needs to review the calculations used to allot money. Every time a family resides in public housing for 10, 15 or 20 years, it injures a family that falls on temporary hard times and has nowhere to turn because no housing exists. And throughout it all, middle class families suffer because their tax burden is too high, in part to fund corporate and individual welfare scams.
Corporate welfare abuse is slightly more unpalatable than individual welfare abuse, primarily because so many corporations don’t need it and so many individuals are (through some fault of their own) set up by devious politicians to remain locked down in dependency. But the Sun is wrong to believe that a desire to reign in individual welfare abuse is limited to Republicans only. I’m sure that there are millions of Independents and Democrats who would like to see the system reconfigured to root out the fraud, waste and abuse. Not content that no matter how hard it tried, the Sun could not phrase an online poll that would result in a majority of Marylander’s being in favor of such extravagant purchases.
Conversely, we suspect and would hope that nobody would have an issue with providing responsible people with temporary food and housing assistance to help bridge them over in times of need. That’s the right thing to do. It's also what these systems were intended to do when they were first designed and sold to the general public many years ago.
Editor - bethesite.com
