I question your statement 41% of people pay no taxes. Between federal and state income taxes, property tax, state and local taxes, sales tax, gas tax etc, almost everybody pays taxes in one form or another.

I’m not arguing about food stamps being a symptoms of a larger disease and that some people would rather take food stamps than work. But I would say the large majority of folks on food stamps would rather be working or are working. I read an article a couple of years ago that some of our soldiers are on food stamps. Would you call them a symptoms of liberalism?

My statement was that unemployment and a poor economic situation is more of problem than “lazy” Americans.

How can you believe in American exceptionalism if you think most Americans are lazy?

Everyone is in DIVE, DIVE, DIVE mode……
What will it take for the average American to get it?
Now – all the pundits on the left are asking where the jobs are?
Well folks – if you don’t get that the President that 52% of the American people voted for is against Conservative PRO-GROWTH policies that allow for job opportunities – then I have some old
stock in a horse-shoe company I would like to sell you.

I thjink welfare reform just expanded government jobs and it’s not a safety net. The states “leading” the way with welfare to work have just created more gov jobs and made it so it’s not a safety net. Now we have daycare, cars, taxis, bus fare, A LOT more caseworkers, transition benefits, child support enforcement, more clerks, etc. It’s more of a lifestyle improvement for mostly young unmarried woman that use the system as a lifestyle and can up with the paperwork and classes. It’s a lot of duplication with daycare. I’ve never had family to watch my child but I would say 90% of the single mothers I know have A LOT of family support. Big cities already subsidies most public transit, it’s already very inexpensive to go to and from work. If a woman is in college she is already getting a pell grant, why not use some of that money to pay for books and uniforms instead of the welfare to work office. It created a huge amount of gov worker jobs and those that contract to recieve government money like daycare providers and many are home daycares. So a grandmother could do a quick licensing and now get paid to watch her granddaughter courtsey of the state. I’m sure there is A LOT of family daycares like that. (I’m not saying people should work for free either or people shoudl take advantage of family btw)
The one good welfare improvement there is I think is diversion, where people can opt to get a larger lump sum to pay for something specific to help them and they are asked not to apply for TANF for six months. My point with welfare reform is it stopped being a safety net for those in a crisis or really can’t work instead it’s more of a lifestyle improvement for those that use to subsidize their life and it imroved their lifestyle and gave them daycare.

I think churches are probably the worst places for help. Most of the people are affluent and very out of touch with what it’s really like. There are exceptions but they are just that, exceptions. The church based charities do give help for some things but they encourage government dependence worse than any lib communist I’ve ever heard!! It’s very upseting even being on the other side, how many emails or calls have I gotten asking if I know where someone they met or knew can go for help!! Why not just we all give what we can $5 or $20 and give it to that person!!! The same people will spend $$ for fundraiser dinners or support for things that aren’t so important but actually helping someone gasp they think there is this vast network of charities/non profits just waiting to write checks for those in need all day.This is where that “pride” talk comes in, the clueless recommend a charity that is nothing more than gov money giving the employees of this non profit a job, the person in need obviously knows their suggestion is dumb and the clueless well off person says to others well they just won’t get help it’s pride! I’ve heard it/seen it.

Most neighbors I’ve had only want to suck something out of me. The only set of neighbors I’ve ever had that weren’t like that were illegal Mexicans. They were very nice and the men helped me with my car several times when they saw I had a flat or my batter wasy dead or they saw me walking to store they stopped to give me us a ride. I think family is really the only good safety net.

Crime in NO has always been a problem but some of the problem has been amplified by the court system, or more properly the legal system in Louisiana and the culture of the projects where the permanent underclass lived.

There was a 60 minutes segment (I think that’s where I saw it) that examined both aspects.

Many criminals are caught, but if no witness come forth, then the criminals get off.

If you live in a project where “snitching” can get you killed, witnesses often disappear…etc etc. I read somewhere that the conviction rate in NO was under 50 percent….Wowser.

When some of the displaced from Katrina came into Huston the crime rate soared, but justice in Texas was a different animal, and many of the low life’s found that out along with a long sentence as a guest of the state prisons.

You can read a bit more about the criminal element if in NO you dig around a bit.

I see this with many well off people too. It’s sickening. I probably see it more/extreme with those better off. I think health insurance helps this mentality too..people don’t want to pay for anything. I’ve seen people that were literally millionaires throw fits because their kids wouldn’t be entitled to $100 in free books at the community college and other kids were. Goodness be happy you have it for them to go move to the next problem in your life. I don’t see that with the poor, they seem to be a lot more willing to pay for educational things even when their is a screw up with the financial aid.

I know it’s not the point but I disagree with the unwed mothers leaving the kids at daycare. but I agree 100% with the NO MEN, to me that is the problem, the low life men a lot of these women seem to get involved with and they get rid of one and meet another.

Achance wrote something about cutting off welfare and how it would change things as far as employment and I wanted to comment it would FOR SURE change the most sought after traits in men like employed would be #1!!!! They just do not view males as providers. I didn’t either, you don’t know what you don’t grow up with but I’m sorry once you have a kid it’s a lot easier to see they need a father to provide for them and give them protection. Anytime I say this I get called a gold digger so if that makes me oh well! I wish churches would emphasize marriage more. The LDS church is the only one that seems to do that.

The farm bill in 2008 made it so 401K and 529 plans are exempt assets from food stamps. That is incredible. (BTW I think this was President Bush’s idea.)

This is very rought it looks like the loophole might be some way for the states to have their food stamp asset guidelines (which are set by the fed gov) with their TANF guidelines (which they have more freedom to set.) I don’t understand this because the food stamp rules are stricter. Here is a list. I have NO idea if this source is legit or not btw

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=554

What is even worse is the freedom they have with TANF not to have an asset limit. So you could have oodles of money in the bank and still get cash in some places, like possibly Ohio. One thing I read said they were the first but I have NO IDEA if that is current. I heard of IDAs before but this is incredible AND I thought they were a pilot program. I didn’t know people could have that much and get TANF. Search google for “asset reform TANF” and all sorts of reading comes up, just a warning it’s all sort of liberal (people should be allowed to have savings and still get welfare) but then it was republicans that are behind welfare reform (which I think is a racket that just expanded more gov jobs and leave out many that need help) that allowed this so I really don’t know what the conservative thought is on this.

I want to try and make a timeline of the rules and changes and what states get waivers and the changes they made.

Off to go eat my humble pie. I apologize Brian!

I figured it was appropriate in this context though, since few things are more insulting to long-winded trolls than to know that people are skipping their long verbiage unread.