I won't totally disagree with Buzz on this one (surprise Buzz!)
There is a considerable amount of welfare fraud ... more than any of us wants
BUT there are plenty more who utilize the programs who really need it. The government is trying to break the cycle of welfare ....
Buzz, I just don't think you've heard much about it .... many states are doing this ...* they are "welfare to work" programs and tho' they are not totally successful they are a step in the right direction .... when I taught at a local vocational college a year ago .... many of my students were welfare Moms and kids from lower socioeconomic backgrounds .... I was teaching them to be Medical assistants .... as you know there is a nationwide shortage of nurses so they are filling the lower ranks of the medical echelon with medical assistants .... I have found that given a chance of an honorable profession they will take the leap and work towards bettering themselves ....
it's the whole "why don't you go work at flipping burgers" mentality that some people have that gives them a sense of being a loser if they work at one of those type of jobs .....*
Buzz, here's a "for instance" for you ..... you and I were both in the military so you know how everyone in basic training has to pull KP duty .... well for me it was worse than a 20 mile hike because everyone always made fun of who ever had KP duty, that whole hazing thing .... well as long as I didn't have to pull front line KP I didn't mind .... as long as my peers didn't see me flinging hash I was fine .... I'd volunteer for any scut job in the back of the kitchen as long as I didn't have to be in the front line serving to get heckled by my peers ..... it's sll about respect Buzz ... sometimes it's all these kids have left to them .... they want and deserve dignity and respect, they didn't ask to be born to a welfare Mom .....
they are already poor, seen their Moms getting food stamps, living in cockroach rat infested section 8 housing, eating government cheese, shopping at Goodwill, etc .... you think they aren't embarrassed? think they don't care? given a chance many of them will take it but if we treat them like crap while we are giving them a hand up out of urban blight or if we act like we are doing charity work, looking down our noses at them .... well frankly all it breeds is resentment .... they think we are clueless about how they live when we are trying to help them, they hate being poor, they are embarrassed that they are another generation of welfare kids ....
some of them find the internal fortitude to help themselves out of that cycle but of course not all, after all they are only kids, with a kid's reasoning skills....
if you are as sick of the flaws in welfare system as you act like ... then start mentoring an inner city kid, be a big brother to someone .... stop bitching about all the wrongs out there and be proactive ..... it's not about electing the right male or female into the presidency .... it has to be a "grass roots" effort by all of us who pay taxes and damn it if you fail with one kid, don't give up, take on another on, and another ....
Buzz, go out and be act christian, extend a helping hand to a child, a young man or woman before welfare gets it's hold on them!!!! The odds are against you helping an adult welfare recipient around but
YOU can make a difference with young people, it's about helping not lecturing them, not preaching god to them .... it's about showing them, teaching, mentoring them so that the cycle is broken one kid at a time ....
we will never, ever get any where with welfare reform unless all of us are willing to step up to the plate and do something .... hell anything other than lip service to how bad everything is ..... I adopted a child from the inner city, his biological Mom died from a Crack overdose 2 years ago .... I helped break the cycle of a next generation welfare child 17 years ago ... and I did it with others when I taught school and still mentor kids presently ...
now I'm not telling you to go out and adopt a kid but I am telling you to take some of the time you spend on this forum bitching about all the wrongs of society and instead use part of that time to go out there and help make a difference in this world or is it just easier for you to complain?
I think it is .... oh you may talk about how you volunteer with Veterans and such but try and give an hour or two a week on inner city projects .... you might make a difference in one kids life .... and if everyone made a difference in just one kid's life we might be able to break the cycle of generational welfare recipients in a generation or two .... but seriously stop complaining .... go out and try and help fix it .....
friggin arm chair quarter backs .... I know plenty of them .... they all want to complain about all the rotten crap in life but they never want to help make a difference ..... to walk the walk instead of just talk the talk ....
I challenge you (any and all of you in fact!) .... you in particular Buzz .... to go out there and help a young person ... just one .... do it out of wanting to make changes .... not preaching about God 'cause most of them think god has abandoned them .... do it not because it's the morally right thing to do, leave religion out of the equation .... do it simply because you have the power to make a difference .... it's the right thing to do .... step up to the plate and all the other cliches .... but just do it one kid at a time!
Okay .... the end of my diatribe on "stop being an arm chair quarter back and get off your lazy ass and make a difference" rhetoric ... oh and don't give me the BS that you already do plenty .... while I've been off work recuperating I see how much time you spend on forum so I know you have free time to go out and mentor someone!!!!
Buzz, Make an effort to fix it or stop bitching is all I ask of you ..... Deb