Welfare

Welfare Makes People Dependent on the Government The government has created a welfare system that makes it easier to collect a free monthly payment rather than work. http://reason.com... Many rational people are going to choose welfare over a low paying job especially considering the ease of acquiring it. This is especially true for people who's only other option is a minimum wage type job. Why would I get a job flipping burgers when I can just as easily collect welfare and have a ton more leisure time. Here is 10 states where such a mentality seems particularly attractive. http://www.statisticbrain.com... State Hourly Wage Equivalent Hawaii- $17.50 Alaska- $15.48 Massachusetts- $14.66 Connecticut- $14.23 Washington, D.C.- $13.99 New York- $13.13 New Jersey- $12.55 Rhode Island- $12.55 California- $11.59 Virginia- $11.11 I have to tell you I make about $12.00 an hour and don't live too far from some of these states. It's very tempting to move, quit work and give myself a little but if a raise. Welfare pays more than minimum wage in 35 states. http://www.cato.org... I honestly have no clue why anybody decides to get these minimum wage crap jobs. It doesn't matter if somebody is an honest hard working person, once they have replaced their income it's going to be very hard to get a job. Welfare Discourages 2 Parent Households Back in the 1960's president Johnson began his so called war on poverty. Which meant creating a bunch of new welfare programs and giving more money to the poor. Johnson's biggest concern in this war on poverty was helping black people overcome the economic gaps they were facing and disadvantages of not having as much inherited wealth. Since welfare funding has dramatically went up, the out of wedlock birthdate has tripled among African Americans. The income equality gap hasn't really been affected at all. The black poverty rate is still 3 times as high as the white poverty rate. Here is what the Cato institute has to say on the matter. "Of course women do not get pregnant just to get welfare benefits.... But, by removing the economic consequences of out-of-wedlock birth, welfare has removed a major incentive to avoid such pregnancies. A teenager looking around at her friends and neighbors is liable to see several who have given birth out-of- wedlock. When she sees that they have suffered few visible consequences ... she is less inclined to modify her own behavior to prevent pregnancy.... Current welfare policies seem to be designed with an appalling lack of concern for their impact on out-of-wedlock births. Indeed, Medicaid programs in 11 states actually provide infertility treatments to single women on welfare." Kids that are born out of wedlock are more likely to commit crimes, drop out of high school, grow up poor etc. All the info in this section was gathered from the following location. All numbers pulled from this article are well cited. http://www.discoverthenetworks.org... It violates the Role of Government The role of the American government as stipulated by it's founding fore fathers and framers of it's constitution is to protect the freedoms of and secure the rights and property of individuals accordingly with natural law. The government's only purpose is just to be a collective force to secure these individual rights. The implementation of a welfare program is a violation of the government's role. Instead of protecting private property, they are now confiscating private property and giving it to another group. All individuals should be treated equally in the eyes of the government, but in the case of implementing a welfare program it actually gives preferential treatment to the poor. It Helps Perpetuate a Failing Economic System By instituting Welfare, you cover up the failures of the current economic system. By remedying the symptoms of the current economic system, you prevent society from so clearly seeing it's failures. Although most people who use this argument are Marxists, it's still a valid point and the criticism can be used by any competing economic theory. Instead of covering up for this systems failings, let's fully expose them so we can have the incentive to fix the source of the problem. Conclusion I insist that my opponent follow the structure of the debate. I have kept my opening argument to less than 5,000 words so he can post his opening arguments and rebuttals in the same round. After that we can agree to only use 5,000 words per round or stick with 10,000. I leave that option up to my opponent.