Welfare

Second round is rebuttals and conclusion. Here's my stand, all you have to do is argue against it: I believe that the current welfare system should be abolished. It's not helping anyone, not the poor, not the taxpayers and not society. The taxpayers are stuck picking up the tab for a flawed system. Society's suffers in that our churches, schools, parks, and other programs are shoved to the side and ignored. Instead of the money to improve these things, it's tossed to the welfare system so more and more people can be supported. And the poor are trapped because the system pays them more than they can get working a forty (or more) week at minimum wage. Basically the American welfare system is a complete failure. It provides free money to the poor and gives absolutely no incentive to be free of it. Worse yet, it seeds future generations to live this way as well. The current welfare system is set up so that its paying those on it more than that of someone working. Thirty-five states pay above the current minimum wage. Thirteen states pay over what would average out to $15 an hour. That's nearly $8 over minimum wage. There are even a few states that pay nearly $44,000, which is equal to a teachers salary. Where's the incentive to get off the system? There isn't one. Worse yet, this system is teaching the children that furthering their education, getting a job and working hard isn't necessary, not when they can not work and get paid. Why work when you don't have to? That's the mind set of the children growing up on welfare have begun to adapt. Currently there are about 110,000,000 Americans on welfare. That's about 36% of the population and doesn't include those that are receiving food stamps or unemployment. If these are added the total percentage comes up to about 49. That's half (or close enough) of the American people. Around 131 billion dollars is given to the welfare system annually and again, this amount doesn't include food stamps or unemployment. Imagine what could be accomplished with that amount of money. Here are a few more numbers: The average time spent on AFCD (Aid to Families w/ Dependent Children) Less than 7mth - 19% 7mth - 12mth - 15.2% 1 - 2 years - 19.3% 2 - 5 years - 26.9% Over 5 years - 19.6 True the stats state that families do eventually get off welfare is there but what isn't in the above numbers are the numbers of those that return. 22% of those who get off welfare return and of that number, about 13% are not returning because of a loss of a job but only because they complied with the rules and are back to receiving the benefits. What does this say about America? My opinion, the people of this country have become lazy and expectant. There's no reason to earn money when the government is willing to give it away as long as you meet the guidelines they set forth. Guidelines that help the non-working members of society and not those that work hard and could actually use a little extra assistance. What's worse is that people are learning to expect the welfare system to give them money. Let's get America back to the hardworking, dreams come true country it's known for and do away with a system that keeps the poor, poor.