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Posts tagged as “welfare”

(Archive February 2017) Drug Testing Welfare Recipients is Bad for Taxpayers

By editorialteam on September 5, 2024

By Jamie Parker | News Editor

Food stamps, “free” healthcare, subsidized housing, and other government funded programs that all count as welfare programs. According to the Census Bureau, at the end 2012, about 34% of US citizens rely on one welfare program or another.  That’s about 109,631,000 people. That’s a lot of people, and a lot of tax dollars.

Now one argument you have probably heard is that we should drug test all welfare recipients, to ensure that our hard-earned tax dollars are going to people who are “doing the right thing.” But in states like Florida, and Tennessee, these tests have been proven to cost more than they save. On top of that, these proposed laws are being challenged on whether they are even constitutional. read more

(Archive April 2016) An Entitled Generation

By editorialteam on August 27, 2024

By John Blombach | Assistant Editor

Are you a member of an entitlement generation, I know I sure am?  We are living in one of the most self-absorbed times in American history.  We are a gift to society, and the world owes us everything.  Entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, yes, but are we taking the entitlements to an all new unsustainable level?

Free education, free healthcare, free prescriptions, free money, free legal aid, free insurance, free benefits to American ____(fill in the blank).  Also, unemployment compensation in New Hampshire, vacation pay in Massachusetts, free rent, free oil, free cell phones, and let’s not forget a living wage,  just to name a few.  Entitlement spending is now the highest it has ever been, and it is not just a liberal or conservative issue.  Both political parties share the blame in equal fashion. read more

(Archive April 2016) ‘The Leach-athon’: Taking Government Money Through Laziness

By editorialteam on August 27, 2024

By Patrick J. Miller | Observer Contributor

I am a college student. You can usually spot me in the library working on some paper while listening to music. You may also catch me in my regular history class, front row. I maintained a passing GPA and have a vested interest in History/Political Science. And finally, I want to become a history professor in my future. But there may be one thing that might inhibit me from fulfilling this dream: I have used government benefits to live my life.

Now before any of you out me for being a leach, I want to explain my stance. I was born poor. I’ve been relatively poor for what amounts to my entire life. My mother was shut out of work for years due to the sinful act of having to raise two kids who were born with a genetic defect known as cystic fibrosis. We needed those benefits to keep a roof over our heads, to put clothes on our backs, and put food on the table. If we didn’t have those benefits, then let’s just say that I wouldn’t be here writing to you about these benefits. read more