Sean Linnane mentions on his blog a letter published in the Waco Tribune Herald newspaper in Waco, Texas, on November 18th last year. Unfortunately, not being a subscriber to that newspaper, I couldn’t get a direct link to the page concerned: but Mr. Linnane printed the whole letter anyway. It’s so good – and I agree with it so strongly! – that I’ve taken the liberty of reproducing it here. (For the benefit of readers outside the USA, I’ve linked terms that may not be familiar to their reference pages on Wikipedia.)
Put me in charge of food stamps. I’d get rid of Lone Star cards; no cash for Ding Dongs or Ho Ho’s, just money for 50-pound bags of rice and beans, blocks of cheese and all the powdered milk you can haul away. If you want steak and frozen pizza, then get a job.
Put me in charge of Medicaid. The first thing I’d do is to get women Norplant birth control implants or tubal ligations. Then, we’ll test recipients for drugs, alcohol, and nicotine and document all tattoos and piercings. If you want to reproduce or use drugs, alcohol, smoke or get tats and piercings, then get a job.
Put me in charge of government housing. Ever live in a military barracks? You will maintain our property in a clean and good state of repair. Your home will be subject to inspections anytime and possessions will be inventoried. If you want a plasma TV or X box 360, then get a job and your own place.
In addition, you will either present a check stub from a job each week or you will report to a government job. It may be cleaning the roadways of trash, painting and repairing public housing, whatever we find for you. We will sell your 22 inch rims and low profile tires and your blasting stereo and speakers and put that money toward the common good.
Before you write that I’ve violated someones rights, realize that all of the above is voluntary. If you want our money, accept our rules. Before you say that this would be demeaning and ruin their self esteem consider that it wasn’t that long ago that taking someone else’s money for doing absolutely nothing was demeaning and lowered self esteem.
If we are expected to pay for other peoples mistakes we should at least attempt to make them learn from their bad choices. The current system rewards them for continuing to make bad choices.
– Alfred W. Evans, Gatesville, TX
Amen!!! Preach it, brother!
Thanks to Sean Linnane for reproducing Mr. Evans’ letter, and to the Waco Tribune Herald for publishing it in the first place. I have no doubt whatsoever that if the author’s program were implemented, we could slash entitlement spending overnight, and put our country in a much, much healthier position, financially speaking.
All we need now are politicians with the guts to stand up to the ‘entitlement crowd’ and implement such a program. Anyone know where they are? . . . Anybody? . . . I’m waiting . . . Anyone? Bueller?
*Sigh*
Peter
That is good language. I will use it, and give credit to Mr. Evans. I think we have a good crop of new conservative folks who will agree that welfare breeds dependable. I hope they will act accordingly.
Thanks for sharing.
OOppps, that should be "breeds dependancy"
Sorry
It sounds good in theory, but I'd like to know how it would be implemented without imposing on anyone else. Unless you're planning on tracking all of everyone's purchases, it becomes impossible to tell who is spending cash on steak, as long as they make it a separate time purchase from their rice and beans on food stamps. I'm unwilling to have my purchases tracked.
Likewise, I think tempering the austerity a bit might be a good plan. Inflicting vitamin deficiencies on the welfare class is not going to be conducive to getting them off welfare. Rickets and beri-beri and scurvy do not good workers make.
As for the "military barracks" idea… dear god. How is that even going to work? You can do it in the military because you've got enough drill sergeants to deal with the privates. You'd create an entire class of welfare commisars to inspect housing projects with this plan.
I agree that being on welfare shouldn't be pleasant, but you don't want to actually make the problem worse.
great article! wish some of my college friends would read!