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I’m on Welfare, and That’s How I Know It Needs to Be Abolished

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Inefficient. Wasteful. Dehumanizing. Inhumane. Conservatives and libertarians commonly attach all of these epithets to the American welfare system. Any reader of Charles Murray’s voluminous accounts of these programs will know, in exacting statistical detail, just how true these claims are of the welfare and entitlement state. But few have gone through the alphabet soup of programs themselves, and even fewer have written about the “personal” side of the welfare process.

I have applied for these programs. I have consulted lawyers, social workers, and other advocates to help me jump through so many hoops and fill out so many forms that I long ago lost count. I am a diagnosed schizophrenic and a college drop-out, but I have enough sense (and enough of an understanding of economics, particularly public choice theory) to appreciate the unalloyed, banal horror of those who fall through the cracks of American society, and the unnecessary barriers put in the way of self-advancement and personal initiative by the very measures designed to help them.

My thesis is simple: first, the welfare state as currently constituted systematically discriminates against the poorest, sickest, and most vulnerable; second, the programs themselves are deeply paternalistic and stifle rational, adult decision-making at every conceivable level of action; and third, that the entirety of the welfare state should be abolished along with labor market regulations (such as the minimum wage) and replaced with a negative income tax or universal basic income.

The first contention, even to conservative ears, is probably the most shocking: welfare spending doesn’t go to those who need it most? Let’s consider Social Security. In general, Social Security payments for non-retirees fall into two categories: Social Security Insurance (SSI), which is earmarked for individuals who have never held a job, and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), which is for people who have either worked and become disabled (that is, have “paid into” the system to some degree) or were disabled prior to reaching adulthood and have no reasonable expectation of becoming employed due to their disability. . .

The first and most obvious step to take would be to stop limiting their employment options. Minimum wage laws, which price individuals with low labor productivity out a job, should be abolished. Even the Americans with Disabilities Act, which raises the specter of lawsuits directed at businesses that “wrongfully” fire a disabled person, should be repealed. Any and all laws restraining free, uncoerced trade, from state occupational licensing laws to laws limiting where and when small businesses can be established, should be ended outright. We’re in a deep pit on our policies regarding the disabled and unemployed: it’s time to stop digging. (Read more from “I’m on Welfare, and That’s How I Know It Needs to Be Abolished” HERE)

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Fake Black NAACP Pres Hit With Felony Welfare Fraud Charges

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Apparently, the money Rachel Dolezal earned from her recent Netflix documentary wasn’t exactly enough for her, because the very Caucasian former local NAACP president who passed herself off as African-American is now facing felony welfare fraud charges.

According to KHQ-TV, Dolezal — who has legally changed her name to Nkechi Diallo — is accused of lying to obtain almost $9,000 in child welfare assistance from the state of Washington.

Court documents reveal that the state’s Department of Social and Health Services began investigating Dolezal/Diallo in March 2017. That was after she published her autobiography “In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World.”

While not outselling “Twilight” or anything like that, I’m sure the book by the self-proclaimed “trans-racial” woman who was outed by her parents as white after a stint heading the Spokane chapter of the civil rights organization probably found a small but dedicated audience who read it as unintentional comedy.

Whatever the sales may have been, it probably wasn’t the case that Dolezal’s “only source of income was $300.00 per month in gifts from friends” at the time, which is what she told state officials. (Read more from “Fake Black NAACP Pres Hit With Felony Welfare Fraud Charges” HERE)

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Trump Admin Pushing to Make Welfare Recipients Work for Food Stamps

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The Trump administration wants Congress to implement additional work requirements for food stamp recipients.

On Wednesday, the Department of Agriculture released a document detailing what principles should be part of any farm legislation Congress comes up with.

In the document, USDA noted that it supports “work as the pathway to self-sufficiency, well-being, and economic mobility for individuals and families receiving supplemental nutrition assistance.”

Speaking Wednesday at an event on a farm near Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue discussed the importance of increased work requirements. He said the Trump administration is trying to discourage a “lifestyle” of dependence on the federal government.

“It’s evident that there are able-bodied adults without dependents who are on the food stamp program, who we believe it is in their best interests, and their families’ best interests, to move into an independent lifestyle,” Perdue told reporters, according to Bloomberg News.

“During the last downturn, it became a lifestyle for some people. We don’t want it to become permanent.”

The Trump administration did not say whether it plans to cut funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which covers roughly 46.5 million people.

But work requirements could be one way to save money under the farm legislation outlined by the USDA.

In 2015, the department said that 57 percent of working-age adult SNAP recipients either had a job or were seeking to find one, while 22 percent claimed they could not work because of a disability, the Washington Examiner reported.

The Trump administration has previously taken steps to cut dependence on welfare programs.

In August 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services ended an Obama administration policy that allowed states to exempt poor people from having to prove they were either looking for a job or getting trained to do a particular task.

“The waiver option offered by the Obama administration is being replaced today by an expectation that work should always be encouraged as a condition for receiving welfare,” said Steven Wagner, the department’s acting assistant secretary for children and families.

Moreover, earlier this month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it would allow states to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients.

“Medicaid needs to be more flexible so that states can best address the needs of this population. Our fundamental goal is to make a positive and lasting difference in the health and wellness of our beneficiaries, and today’s announcement is a step in that direction,” said agency administrator Seema Verma, according to CNN.

But this move prompted backlash, with three consumer advocacy groups filing a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday after Kentucky became the first state to require many of its Medicaid recipients to work in order to receive benefits.

About 75 million people nationwide are covered by Medicaid. (For more from the author of “Trump Admin Pushing to Make Welfare Recipients Work for Food Stamps” please click HERE)

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McConnell Gives Poster Child of Corporate Welfare a Pass

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There is nothing more rare in Washington than the opportunity to shutter the doors of a profligate federal agency. Thus the prospect of ending the wasteful and corrupt Export-Import Bank is even more enticing. Unfortunately, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has just handed the Democrats another gift that could possibly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory for Republicans and reauthorize the poster child of corporate welfare.

In an irony of all ironies, McConnell was giving away political favors last week to Democrats willing to join him to…pass one of Obama’s biggest legislative priorities, Trade Promotion Authority and dubbed by others as Obamatrade for the special privileges granted to the potential trade deal. Irrespective of one’s views on trade in general, the idea that Republicans would expend political capital to pay off Democrats in order to help pass one of Obama’s top priorities is absurd. Yet, that is exactly what McConnell did when he promised Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) a vote on the reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank charter in exchange for her and a contingent of Democrats agreeing to vote for cloture on Obamatrade last Thursday.

McConnell has refused to negotiate or fight vigorously to allow votes on conservative priorities, but he is willing to surrender the one impending victory against corporate welfare in order to bail out Obama from troubles with his own party! Even more troubling, at a time when McConnell has blocked conservatives from offering amendments, even those that are germane to pending legislation, he is abdicating his authority as Majority Leader to set the Senate to Cantwell next month by allowing her to file cloture on a bill reauthorizing the Ex-Im Bank. And according to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), this non-germane bill will be attached to the eventual highway bill, which is regarded by the Washington political class as “must pass legislation.” This will make it very difficult for conservatives to block the bill. And to top it all off, McConnell is doing all this while he claims to oppose the Export-Import Bank.

Republicans can pocket a victory that would shrink the size of government by simply doing nothing and allowing the Bank’s charter to expire, but McConnell, in order to help Obama, is willing to forgo that victory. The entire purpose of winning back the Senate when lacking 60 votes to affirmatively pass legislation is to control the floor and block liberal initiatives from coming to a vote. With every Democrat and many establishment Republicans potentially supporting Ex-Im’s reauthorization, allowing Cantwell control over the floor will ensure the passage of this handout to Boeing and General Motors – at a time when conservatives are working overtime to re-establish the Republican Party as a free market beacon for all.

McConnell’s double game is so infuriating because there has never been more momentum behind eliminating the charter of this corruption-laden federal entity. In addition to the conservative leaders in the House, the ranks of those who want to see Ex-Im expire include Reps. Jeb Hensarling, Paul Ryan, Steve Scalise, and Kevin McCarthy. Why can’t McConnell just take yes for an answer?

Sadly, McConnell doesn’t share conservative policy goals so naturally he has no qualms about sabotaging this impending victory over big government. In fact, he supports the big government cronies pushing for the Ex-Im Bank.

While McConnell works on his new memoir, The Long Game, he ought to include a lengthy chapter titled: The Double Game. (See “McConnell Gives Poster Child of Corporate Welfare a Pass”, originally posted HERE)

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Arizona Slashes Welfare Lifetime Limit from 24 Months to 1 Year [+video]

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The Arizona Legislature has slashed the lifetime limit for welfare benefits from 24 months to 12 months, the shortest time frame in the U.S.

The Associated Press reported:

As a result, the Arizona Department of Economic Security will drop at least 1,600 families – including more than 2,700 children – from the state’s federally funded welfare program on July 1, 2016.

The cuts of at least $4 million reflect a prevailing mood among the lawmakers in control in Arizona that welfare, Medicaid and other public assistance programs are crutches that keep the poor from getting back on their feet and achieving their potential.

Arizona state Sen. Kelli Ward, a co-sponsor of the bill, was on “Fox and Friends” to explain the decision. She said that it wasn’t a popular move, but it was a necessary one. (Read more from “Arizona Slashes Welfare Lifetime Limit from 24 Months to 1 Year” HERE)

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Watch: 72-Year-Old Southern Grannie Goes on a Tear Against ‘Modern Women’ and Lazy, Welfare Recipients

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welfareA video of an elderly woman with a thick southern drawl ranting about modern women, lazy men, and people who receive welfare is going viral.

Mother Agnus, as the man behind the camera called her, is full of “old” and traditional values, and she strongly believes that men should work while women should raise families:

“I’ve been working since I was 7, I’ve been raising children since I was 5. I’ve been cooking since I was 4 and a half. These women today, all they know about is McDonald’s and fast food. They ain’t know nothing ‘bout cooking and feeding no man. A way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, get your behind in there and cook! Feed him, and make sure he gets up off his butt and go to work.”

Mother Agnus goes on to say that “women don’t even raise their children, their children are raising them”:

“Now they may not like me for saying it, but the women today, they don’t even raise their children—their children raising them! A woman’s place is to raise their children and at the end of the day tell their father which one they almost had to kill.”

(Read more from “72-Year-Old Southern Grannie Goes on a Tear Against ‘Modern Women’ and Lazy, Welfare Recipients” HERE)

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Kansas Wants to Ban Welfare Recipients from Seeing Movies, Going Swimming on Government’s Dime

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pooolIf House Bill 2258 is signed into law by Gov. Sam Brownback (R) this week, Kansas families receiving government assistance will no longer be able to use those funds to visit swimming pools, see movies, go gambling or get tattoos on the state’s dime.

Those are just a few of the restrictions contained within the measure that promises to tighten regulations on how poor families spend their government aid.

State Sen. Michael O’Donnell, a Wichita Republican who has advocated for the bill, said the legislation is designed to pressure those receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to spend “more responsibly.”

“We’re trying to make sure those benefits are used the way they were intended,” O’Donnell, vice chair of the state senate’s standing committee on public health and welfare, told the Topeka Capital-Journal. “This is about prosperity. This is about having a great life” . . .

“I just think we are simply saying to people, ‘If you are asking for assistance in this state, you’re sort of less than other people and we’re going to tell you how and where to spend your money,’” Rep. Carolyn Bridges, a Wichita Democrat, said during the House’s debate, according to the Associated Press. (Read more from “Kansas Wants to Ban Welfare Recipients from Seeing Movies, Going Swimming on Government’s Dime” HERE)

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Michigan Lawmakers Propose Drug Screening for Welfare Recipients

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Credit - Western Journalism

Credit – Western Journalism

Following a 26 to 10 vote, the Republican-led Michigan state Senate is presenting Gov. Rick Snyder (pictured above) with a bill that would require certain welfare recipients to submit to drug screening. The program described in this proposed legislation would be enacted on a limited scale in as few as three counties and would only affect recipients suspected of abusing drugs.

Under the guidelines submitted to Snyder for approval, anyone whose tests show the presence of illegal drugs – or who refuses to submit to the test – would automatically be denied welfare for six months or more. After multiple positive results, individuals could become ineligible for benefits; however, they could petition for reinstatement upon a future negative screening.

Read more from this story HERE

Food Stamp Recipients, Advocates Sue Over Work Requirements

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Photo Credit: Joe Raedle / Getty

Photo Credit: Joe Raedle / Getty

Most Americans agree that able-bodied adults should be required to do some type of work to receive welfare assistance. But two nonprofit groups and a handful of food stamp recipients in New Mexico are suing the state for trying to encourage just that.

Last Friday, a New Mexico district judge placed a temporary hold on the work requirements, which were set to go into effect Nov. 1. On Wednesday of this week, Republican Gov. Susana Martinez announced that the state would restart the process of putting the work requirements into place rather than going through the litigation process. The state will pursue the same work requirements.

While the food stamp program doesn’t have much of a work requirement, it does have a modest one for able-bodied adults without children (or other dependents). Able-bodied adults without children are limited to three months of food stamp benefits unless they work or participate in some type of work activity for at least 20 hours a week. However, since 2009 New Mexico—along with many other states—has received a federal waiver allowing them to bypass the work requirement. But New Mexico has decided to forego the waiver. The state also plans to insert modest work requirements for other able-bodied adults who don’t have young children (under age 6), requiring them to look for work or participate in community service.

But the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty and the Southwest Organizing Project say that work requirements are unfair and are suing the New Mexico Human Services Department.

Read more from this story HERE.

Welfare Recipients Can Use Debit Cards for Marijuana

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Photo Credit: APWelfare recipients can’t use their EBT cards at liquor stores but they can at marijuana dispensaries in states such as Colorado that have legalized pot, Sen. Jeff Sessions revealed Tuesday.

The Alabama Republican announced that he was drafting legislation to close the welfare-for-weed loophole after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed to him that marijuana shops were not off limits to EBT cards, which replaced food stamps, or other federal benefits.

“The federal government current spends roughly $750 billion each year on means-tested welfare programs across 80 different accounts. This money is administered by a vast, sprawling bureaucracy with little oversight and no moral vision,” said Mr. Sessions, the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee.

Read more from this story HERE.