Argument Paper

Brandy Hendon

English 3310

Ms. Day

November 2, 2011.

Save the Democracy and the Economy: Why Entitlement Programs Need Reform

         Thomas Jefferson said “The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” Those words are as true today as they were over two hundred years ago. Entitlement programs were started in the United States after World War II by President Roosevelt with the inception of the “New Deal” and the Social Security program, and were expanded upon by President Johnson's “Great Society” after he declared “War on Poverty” which introduced the concept of welfare as we know it today. It is true that the ideas behind these programs are wonderful and can help people in theory; however, once put into practice, the programs are overrun with fraud and are in desperate need of reform. Entitlement reform has been attempted in the past—and was even somewhat successful under President Clinton in the mid 1990s—but with the American economy in the shape that it is today, more effort has to be made to get these programs under control or the United States is going to find itself in a position it may not be able to recover from.

         It is a fact of life that not everyone can or will acquire the same amount of success or wealth. Neither the United States Constitution or the Bill of Rights guarantee either of these things. The Declaration of Independence however, does offer in one of the most famous lines in our history, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Does it say “we promise to give the people healthcare, money to buy clothing or shelter, and food stamps to get food” for free? No, it does not. It does not matter that these documents were written in a different time when they could not imagine staggering healthcare costs or that a gallon of gas would cost over three dollars. What matters is the thought process behind the words in the documents themselves. The Founding Fathers wanted Americans to be self-sufficient and self-reliant. What is so wrong with that? Why would anyone want to rely on the government to take care of them? What has happened to working hard to earn a paycheck to support your family? The problem is that too many citizens of the United States have become dependent on the government for assistance because the government wants them to be. If one is reliant on the government for their well-being, the government accumulates more power, which is how many of those in elected office want it to be. What we end up with is the “Nanny State” which Dictionary.com defines as “a government perceived as authoritarian, interfering, or overprotective.” How can the federal government know what is better for citizens than citizens do themselves? I would argue that they do not. I would argue that the American people know how best to care for their families and by giving the government too much power over their lives go completely against everything the Founders wanted and fought for.

         Entitlement programs not only give the government more power over the people, but they also put a stronghold on the economy, putting the United States further into debt. According to Dr. Paul Johnson, Associate Professor of Political Science at Auburn University,

Since the middle 1980s, entitlement programs have accounted for more than half of all federal spending. Taken together with such other almost uncontrollable (in the short run, that is) expenses as interest payments on the national debt and the payment obligations arising from long-term contracts already entered into by the government in past years, entitlement programs leave Congress with no more than about 25% of the annual budget to be scrutinized for possible cutbacks through the regular appropriations process.

         If people are paying attention today, all that is being discussed is Social Security and Medicare—which unarguably need reforming as well—but a closer look at welfare and unemployment will show massive amounts of fraud. In California last year, an investigation showed welfare recipients using their government issued debit cards being used at casinos, on cruise ships, and at strip clubs. This is money

that is issued to them to help pay their living expenses, not get lap dances. Most people know that the state of California is in one of the worst economic predicaments in its history and to have this type of fraud taking place at all, let alone when they do not have the money to spare, is unfathomable to me. In a story on FoxNews.com just two months ago, it was reported that a woman in Florida “encouraged her husband to have sex with a 12-year-old girl so that she would get pregnant and they could claim extra cash benefits...According to an arrest warrant, the 41-year-old wanted the girl to fall pregnant so that she and her husband would have extra income from state benefits.” Cases like these are deplorable! Granted, these are not typical cases of welfare recipients, but it shows that if there is a way to work the system, people will figure it out. Why? Because the government has made it too easy to do and there is no incentive for people to actually go out and get a job. Florida is also the scene of another high profile issue where the state passed a law that anyone receiving government benefits must pass a drug test and they are being sued! Most employers require new employees to undergo drug testing before they can be hired, and many industries also require random drug testing in order to keep your job. Why is it wrong for these people who are not working but are receiving government assistance to be subjected to the same requirements? If you are not doing drugs then there should be no reason not to take the test, and yet, people are screaming that it violates their constitutional rights. Unbelievable.

         In the United States we are now allowing the unemployed to receive ninety-nine weeks of benefits. That is nearly two years of unemployment! How is this possible? It is possible because we have people in Congress who say that giving so much time is necessary because of the current lack of jobs and it would be inhumane of us to expect people to go out and find a job within six months to a year. I am not saying that people do not need time to locate new employment when they have lost their job by no fault of their own, and I realize that people have mortgages and bills to pay; however, I believe that ninety-nine weeks is a bit overboard. This type of entitlement program does absolutely nothing for individuals who are without a job. I remember my mom telling me about when she was a child in the 1950s and her dad lost his job in California. He was required to do community service in order to receive any type of assistance from the government to help feed his family. He had to go and pick up trash at the beach and along the highway in order to receive food stamps on top of looking for a job. In my opinion, this is honorable because it was not just handed to him with no effort on his part. He still had to EARN it by working for it which instilled character and self-respect, but also provided an incentive to find a job as quickly as possible. Most people today that think they are poor and have it so bad have no idea of what “poor” really is. My mother came from a family of eleven children who were raised in the 1950s and 60s and for a long time lived in a car. That is poor. But living this way did not make any of them feel as if they were entitled to anything from the government. In fact, it made most of them work hard to ensure that they never had to live that way again. I have no problem helping those who help themselves, much like my grandfather did, but more so like my mother did when I was young. My mother was a single mom to five children and received no child support. Did we receive food stamps and medicaid? Yes we did. But my mom worked. And she worked hard—sometimes working two jobs at a time to support us. I have heard people say “Well what about the single mom who has to quit her job because she cannot afford daycare?” and I have said to them “My mom did it, they can too. The difference now, is that there is actually a daycare subsidy available to single mothers so that they can work, so I don't see the problem.” I'm sorry, people cannot use that argument on me. I have lived it and I have seen it work first-hand. I have more admiration for my mother than just about any other person I know. She is living proof that if you pull yourself up by the bootstraps and put forth the effort, it can be done.

         There are currently 77 entitlement programs in the United States that cater to poor and low-income American's, and the sad part is that even with all of these programs and the staggering amount of money that has been spent on them, “poverty is higher today than it was in the 1970s” (Welfare Reform Act of 2011). How is this possible? Several states in the nation—including Wisconsin, Oregon, and New York—actually require individuals receiving government benefits such as welfare, food stamps, or unemployment to work within the community in return for the benefits. I believe all states should require this. In her research paper for the Maryland School of Public Affairs Welfare Reform Academy entitled "Mandatory Work-Related Activities for Welfare Recipients: The Next Step in Welfare Reform," Marie Cohen asserts:

There are some people who need only a little jog to urge them to get off welfare. Truly mandatory participation may provide that incentive. If people knew that being on welfare meant showing up somewhere every day, whether for job search, training, or actual work, they might be more eager to find a job that pays better than welfare.

         In Georgia, there is a program in place that requires those receiving unemployment benefits to receive on-the-job training. In her article about the program for CNN Money, Tami Luhby reports, “The Georgia Works program allows those receiving unemployment insurance to be placed at a local company for up to eight weeks of training. Participants don't get paid, but they do get to keep their jobless benefits and receive a stipend of up to $240 for transportation and other expenses.” And even President Obama praised the program by saying, “ There is a smart program in Georgia. You're essentially earning a salary and getting your foot in the door into that company." And many of the participants have gone on to be hired by the companies that trained them in the program (Luhby). I see no reason why other states would not want to follow in Georgia's footsteps. If there are programs that can assist the unemployed by getting them back to work, then the government should be doing all that it can to make it happen.

         When the government is involved, there are no easy answers, and everything has to be a debate over who knows what the best thing to do is for the American people. It is time for the government to take a step back, out of citizen's lives, and allow them to be productive members of society who are not dependent on a welfare or unemployment check. If the government wants to do something to help people, it should consider ways to assist them in becoming hard working and self-sufficient which will in turn benefit our economy and help get our national debt back on track. The democracy is depending on it.



Works Cited

Cohen, Marie. "Mandatory Work-Related Activities for Welfare Recipients: The Next Step in Welfare Reform." Welfareacademy.org. Maryland School of Public Affairs Welfare Reform Academy. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. <http://www.welfareacademy.org/pubs/welfare/mandatorywork.pdf>.

"In California, Welfare ATM Cards Used In Casinos : NPR." Interview by Robert Siegel. NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. 24 June 2010. Web. 22 Oct. 2011. <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128088335>.

Johnson, Paul M. "Entitlement Programs: A Glossary of Political Economy Terms." Auburn University. Department of Political Science. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. <http://www.auburn.edu/~johnspm/gloss/entitlement_program>.

Luhby, Tami. "Obama Praises Georgia Jobs Program to Train the Unemployed - Aug. 29, 2011." CNNMoney - Business, Financial and Personal Finance News. 29 Aug. 2011. Web. 22 Oct. 2011. <http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/29/news/economy/georgia_jobs/index.htm>.

"The Declaration of Independence." Ushistory.org. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. <http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/>.

"The Democracy Will Cease to Exist... (Quotation) « Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello." Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. Web. 22 Oct. 2011. <http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/democracy-will-cease-to-exist-quotation>.

Thompson, Paul. "Child Rape for Welfare Benefits in Florida - Sex Crimes - Fox Nation." Fox News. 24 Aug. 2011. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. <http://nation.foxnews.com/sex-crimes/2011/08/24/child- rape-welfare-benefits-florida>.

"Welfare Reform Act of 2011." Republican Study Committee (RSC). Caucus of House Conservatives, Mar. 2011. Web. 22 Oct. 2011. <http://rsc.jordan.house.gov/Solutions/wra.htm>.