Thursday, 10 August 2017
Irony
on Welfare – Old Lange’s Rant of the Day
Friend Paul Engel sends:
The Food Stamp Program, administered by the
U.S. Department of Agriculture, is proud to distribute the greatest number of
free Meals and Food Stamps ever – to 46 million people.
Meanwhile, the National Park Service (also USDA) , asks us
“Please Do Not Feed the Animals.” Their stated reason for this policy is: “The
animals will grow dependent on handouts and will not learn to take care of
themselves.”
Thus ends today's lesson in irony.
Dear Paul
32% of the people on food
stamps are in work, but don’t make enough to feed their kids
20% are disabled
15% are elderly The average beneficiary gets $125 a
month.
I am happy with requiring
the others to work in exchange for receiving their food stamps, because I agree
that free handouts destroy initiative and create dependency: it’s why I want to
repeal the oil-depletion allowance, free crop insurance, carried interest, the
step-up-in-basis rule and other government welfare handouts to agribusiness,
banks, coal, oil & gas, and the rich.
In 2016, the Obama administration
tightened up federal rules that require the able-bodied to work to get stamps.
The states and counties that have implemented these work-for-stamps rules have
seen a dramatic reduction in the able-bodied on their food stamps roles – falls
of 25 & 50%. The problem is: the extra cost and staff needed to
manage a work-for-stamps system is local, while all of the benefit money comes from
the Feds. This negative incentive meant few
states set up work-for-stamps systems before they had to. (There has been
nothing stopping them from doing this for the past decade or two.)
Indeed, when unemployment was high, most states (especially the red
states who are the larger recipients of SNAP funds) applied for and received a
waiver of the federal work-requirement rules – it saved them money and cost
them nothing.
Blogger Jaymz writes on
Medicaid:
I
don't believe a quarter of the working age population are so physically or
mentally disabled to be unfit to contribute to the economy. Probably well
under ten percent, maybe five, I don't know. For the others, their
problems are unique and complex, and Medicaid is not the ideal solution.
You might call them "misfits",
Of the 70+ Million who are
on Medicaid, only 24 Million are non-disabled adults (aged 19-64), and 59% of
those are employed. That leaves us with only 9.84 million “misfits”, or 3% of
the total population. I can readily believe that 3% of Americans
are misfit deadbeats.
The rest are simply not paid enough to
afford even the most basic health insurance. (If you make $15k a
year, it is impossible to pay even 3k – $250 a month– for health insurance.)
Raising the minimum wage to a living wage could take millions off both
Medicaid and food stamps.
Number of young people planning to go to university falls to lowest level in eight y14% shows that at least some people are coming to the realization that having university degree is not the be all and end all....there are other walks of life.ears
14% shows that at least some people are coming to the realization that having university degree is not the be all and end all....there are other walks of life.
The article does not say how many parcels of land are being contemplated, as this would make it clear that this would not amount to a hill of beans in the NHS defecit. That is: this story is a beat up.
14% shows that at least some people are coming to the realization that having university degree is not the be all and end all....there are other walks of life.
14% shows that at least some people are coming to the realization that having university degree is not the be all and end all....there are other walks of life.
14% shows that at least some people are coming to the realization that having university degree is not the be all and end all....there are other walks of life.
# posted by Had It in Holland Park @ 01:34 
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