An Error of Entitlement

There was a "Dear Abby" type letter in my local newspaper today about how so many Americans don't even TRY to get health insurance for themselves or their children, and it made me think of the Welfare System.

I work with a lot of minorities, at least forty percent of the people I work with are non-white. While working, we all chat about this, that and the other, and I have learned so much, not all of it what I was expecting to hear.

We are provided with decent health insurance, nothing out of the ordinary, but we still have workers using the welfare system to care for their kids. By putting their kids into the legal custody of a relative who is on welfare, they pay nothing, NOT A RED CENT, to have any sniffle or cold treated at the local hospital emergency room.

Pretty bad, huh? That's nothing, hang on to your hats, this is going to get even uglier....

One co-worker, a man, recently welcomed his ninth child into the world. Now, there's nothing wrong with having nine children, but he actually bragged that he didn't pay a dime, because the baby's mother was on welfare. All his "baby-mamas" were, all five of them, on welfare, not receiving a dime in child support from him! He said that the mothers had an "agreement" with him, and that he "took care" of all of his babies. Oh yes, the welfare system was paying for all his kids, providing food stamps and W.I.C. and section eight housing. He then had the nerve to state that the government "owed" his people (african-americans) because of slavery. I asked him why he bothered to work at all if that was what he believed, and he said he had to have more money than the welfare system would give him.

I have fought hard to resist the feelings of prejudice that creep into my heart when I hear things like I just described. Some of my closest friends are prejudiced against anyone who is overtly "ghetto", or receiving public assistance, noting that so many able-bodied people are not working and "living off every working person's hard labor and hard-earned dollars", and I am not able to find any evidence against this belief. Yes, welfare is now limited to the length of time and the amount of assistance provided, but there are always loopholes. And whenever legislation to decrease public assistance is mentioned, whole populations of neighborhoods empty out to march on city hall. Legislators fear losing votes during election years if associated with any measure to change the status quo of welfare recipients.

Here's what I propose: Send the illegal aliens packing, roust them out and give their jobs to welfare recipients. The USA spends billions of dollars paying for illegals' emergency room visits alone, not to mention the money illegals send to their home countries instead of spending here to support our economy. Give the former welfare recipients whatever jobs they can do, mentally or physically. Give them free childcare, so they don't have any reason to stay at home. Make them pay taxes. Make them compete for raises like everyone else does. Have a flat tax system that makes everyone pay the same amount of tax for goods and services, no more lying on tax returns needed! Make people pay a child tax, say three percent per birth, just in case of multiples. This will decrease the population by forcing couples to look at the cost that unplanned pregnancies incur. Force chronically unemployed people to work at volunteer jobs until they can get a paying job, unless they are verifiably disabled, of course. Provide discounts toward a college education for anyone willing to get off of welfare.

I know that these suggestions go against the grain of most Americans, especially those that would not be able to stay on welfare. Enacting any of these measures is also highly unlikely. But for those of you who sympathize with the frustration of an average citizen of this country, I ask you to try to make a positive contribution to society by setting an example for the leeches and lazy-asses who share our land. Work hard, save your money, and vote for any legislation that rids us of the welfare state!