Here we go again. I had a brief exchange on Facebook last week on this subject. Let's see if we can get some communication and thoughts on this subject - government support for poor. This would include the War on Poverty, welfare, food stamps, WIC, tax credits, private/religious organizations vs government, etc.
(an outline - I do reserve the last word, so I will not do details but here is a shorthand view from me)
Since the Great Depression the U.S. Government has offered food and monetary support for families and individuals that are in need. The problem now is the level of poverty and dependence is greater than ever yet the amount of money doled out by the various levels of government are enormous.
So, your thoughts. More government funding needed or less? More tax breaks and credits or less? More programs or less? A loosening of requirements or a tightening? All of the above or none?
Remember, your discussion is required!! (your comments will have to be approved by me - I will not allow any flaming or uncivil remarks - however I promise anything that meets polite discourse rules will be published) COME ON - LET ME HEAR FROM YOU!!
I hope this will be a forum for discussions on the subjects that divide us.
If the Church (yes - big C, talking about worldwide) had been doing its' job, we would not need as many social programs. Some churches, missionaries, and ministries get it. Hopefully, more will as well.
ReplyDeleteThis is a comment I stand behind, but am also posting to see if posting works!
Okay, I'll try again.
ReplyDeleteI feel the war on poverty has been waged with little effect, due in large part to the dismantling of the middle class over the past 40 years by every administration since Carter along with Congress. Here's my reasoning.
By legislating solid tax breaks to businesses that send production overseas, sold under the auspices of helping developing nations, we effectively did away with the vast majority of manufacturing jobs, the backbone of the middle class. These outplaced workers have a choice to retool/re-educate/re-train or drop down to lower paying jobs. If the split is 50%, it's still far too many people having to take a pay cut. For those that went back to school, and there have been a few, they find themselves with a great deal of debt to pay for it. The plus side is that 38% of the population have college degrees, the down side is that the highest unemployment group is aged 25 - 32 at 17%, over double the national number, and averaging 5 digit student loans. The younger ones among this group don't seem too keen about working in anything but their chosen field despite the fact that there are a large number (600,000) jobs that would pay in excess of $55K per year, if they were willing to do manual labor. (mikeroweworks.org for more info)
Those that took lower paying positions, down near the minimum wage level, are finding themselves in jobs that used to be for high school kids/entry level workers. These jobs were never meant to feed a family but there are many who are trying to. This group is now pleading for an increase in the the minimum wage but I see that as simply pushing it back out to everyone else when prices are raised by the employers who always respond that way.
What's the answer? I don't know. Anything I can come up with requires greater government oversight which means larger govt (Not a fan!) and business people screaming about socialism and way too much oversight on capitalism. But since private sector profits are at an all time high, shouldn't we have a huge number of jobs if trickle down economics really worked?
My big fear is that as the chasm widens between the have and have nots, the larger group will rise up in a civil war that is far worse than any of us imagine. Think of the French Revolution only far worse as there are over 300 million weapons in the hands of the US citizenry. That scares the crap out of me.
As far as the Church helping this problem, churches are made up of people who make donations, pledges, etc. If everyone tithed, you're probably correct that poverty would get a decent whack. Tithing is not even close in this day and age. And do those churches help everyone?
Just my 2 cents.
I realized I had not put in my thoughts. I was hoping for more input from all of the folks out there. If only one out of ten of you that read this had commented we could have had a good basis for discussion - oh well.
ReplyDeleteMy problem with government programs to combat poverty is simple - they don't work. Since Lyndon Johnson declared the "War on Poverty" in the 60s the federal spending alone to fight poverty has exceeded 15 Trillion dollars (with a "T"). Currently we are spending as a country (at the federal, state, and local levels) right at 1 Trillion dollars a year. If you use the governments own figures as to the number of people living at or below the poverty level of $18,500 (rounded) we are spending over $60,000 per family of three PER YEAR! We have been at this level for several years. By those figures we should have wiped out poverty by now. But, the level of people living at or below the poverty level has actually increased over the past few years to approximately the all-time high of around 15% of the population. This is within a percentage point of the other contemporary historical highs that occured in 1982 and 1994. FYI, when Johnson declared his "War" the poverty rate was @19% of the population and falling rapidly. It is now @15% and rising rapidly. It has been within a range from 12% - 15% since the mid-70s.
Government is not a responsible or efficient way of dispensing funds. With enough money going out each year to provide over $20,000 per man, woman, and child living in poverty; but with the average percentage of the population still at or below the poverty level; it is obvious that what we are doing does not work. Welfare and aid programs (over 125 different programs nationally) are now taking up the largest part of our budget - by far. Without a return on our investment and creating a permanent welfare class, this is not the way to go.
If you are interested in where I got my figures - see the report - http://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/PA694.pdf
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