Food stamps thread

[Perchoutofwater]

Good idea, also how about having to do X amount of community service, with the exception of the physically or

mentally handicapped.

 

I like that idea as well.

[Kid Cid]

I've always believed in workfare over welfare. If we're gonna be giving out our tax money anyway, we might as well get something in return for it.

[Ursa Majoris]

Good idea, also how about having to do X amount of community service, with the exception of the physically or

mentally handicapped.

I'd be on board with this. I can't think of any reason why not.

[bpwallace49]

Good idea, also how about having to do X amount of community service, with the exception of the physically or

mentally handicapped.

 

Ehh . . good concept, but I would be in favor of them spending their time looking for jobs first or job training to get them OFF welfare. Having them spend their time doing community service keeps them on welfare cause they dont have time to go to work/look for a job . .

[SEC=UGA]

Ehh . . good concept, but I would be in favor of them spending their time looking for jobs first or job training to get them OFF welfare. Having them spend their time doing community service keeps them on welfare cause they dont have time to go to work/look for a job . .

 

 

It could be good motivation for them to look for a job or further their education... once one picks up poopy off of the side of the highway, cooks food for the homeless, cleans comodes at the homeless shelter, teaches 5th grade in a public school , etc... for a few years one may be very interested in looking for a real job. (my apologies to people who do any of these jobs for a living, I did not mean to make your jobs sound so trivial)

[bpwallace49]

It could be good motivation for them to look for a job or further their education... once one picks up poopy off of the side of the highway, cooks food for the homeless, cleans comodes at the homeless shelter, teaches 5th grade in a public school , etc... for a few years one may be very interested in looking for a real job. (my apologies to people who do any of these jobs for a living, I did not mean to make your jobs sound so trivial)

 

Sooo your solution is to have them out of the workforce for several years? All while on food stamps/unemploymnet? That seems rather counter productive. Wont that just keep people on welfare longer?

 

If the goal is to use these programs as a bridge between hard times (like a LOT of people are doing now) forced unpaid labor probably wont help them get jobs. The only way that would work would be for small amounts every week (like 10 hours) so that either working part time or job seeking/training can be acheived at the same time. Not keeping them as unpaid volunteers for years just so they can eat . . . . .

Edited January 19, 2010 by bpwallace49

[SEC=UGA]

Sooo your solution is to have them out of the workforce for several years? All while on food stamps/unemploymnet? That seems rather counter productive. Wont that just keep people on welfare longer?

 

If the goal is to use these programs as a bridge between hard times (like a LOT of people are doing now) forced unpaid labor probably wont help them get jobs. The only way that would work would be for small amounts every week (like 10 hours) so that either working part time or job seeking/training can be acheived at the same time. Not keeping them as unpaid volunteers for years just so they can eat . . . . .

 

I have not stated that this is the only route, I was responding to an idea, that you quickly shot down as having no merit to it, pointing out that it does have some merit. It keeps people engaged in an act of working, helping them establish a sense of responsibility, creating a daily schedule, etc... skills that they don't typically have that are requisite for any future job.

 

In the deleted post, I stated that I am all for having a wellfare to work training program. While people are learning a trade, they receive public assistance for housing, food and child care. Though, there is a finite amount of time that is alotted for them to receive these benefits and in transitioning from the educational training to the work force. Further, I am for providing assistance to those who fall below the poverty line so long as they are working 40 hours per week.

 

Where I feel the community service idea has it's merits is in the following ways:

1- Helps the individual develop a schedule. This is accomplished through them having to report to community service at a given time and having a daily list of tasks to complete.

2- Develops a sense of ownership and responsibility. By completing the assigned tasks, one begins to feel a sense of responsibility towad the task that they are working on. Whether it be having the cleanest stretch of road or cooking a great meal at the shelter it gives them a feeling of accomplishment.

3- Provides much needed free assistance to an overwhelmed charity organization that can then allocate its monies and efforts to goals outside of internal operations. Therefore, they can help more people.

 

Further, you assert that one working community service would necessarilly distract them from getting a real job. I don't think this is necessarilly true. Many, many people have full time jobs and conduct successful job searches. Many part time workers do the same. College students search for jobs while attending classes full time during their senior year.

 

This could also give these individuals a leg up in search for a job. What do you think an employer would rather see on a resume/application:

2004-2010: Sat on my ass and collected welfare

 

or

 

2004-2010: Worked as a volunteer cook under the Federal Welfare to Work Program at the Salvation Army in Atlanta, GA. Served over 130 people three times daily.

 

Any how, you might be right, unlike the rest of us, people on wlefare and foodstamps may be too lazy to work and conduct a full time job search... your implication, my translation of your implication.

Edited January 19, 2010 by SEC=UGA

[Ursa Majoris]

Sooo your solution is to have them out of the workforce for several years? All while on food stamps/unemploymnet? That seems rather counter productive. Wont that just keep people on welfare longer?

 

If the goal is to use these programs as a bridge between hard times (like a LOT of people are doing now) forced unpaid labor probably wont help them get jobs. The only way that would work would be for small amounts every week (like 10 hours) so that either working part time or job seeking/training can be acheived at the same time. Not keeping them as unpaid volunteers for years just so they can eat . . . . .

Well, it's not unpaid given that they would be receiving welfare. Also, addressing the point about time to look for a job, they could either be excused for that purpose or the "workfare" could be e.g. 25 hours / week as opposed to 40, as you say. I don't think swapping work such as fixing up older houses for elderly people for welfare is too much to ask.

[Perchoutofwater]

Well, it's not unpaid given that they would be receiving welfare. Also, addressing the point about time to look for a job, they could either be excused for that purpose or the "workfare" could be e.g. 25 hours / week as opposed to 40, as you say. I don't think swapping work such as fixing up older houses for elderly people for welfare is too much to ask.

 

+1 Or picking up trash on the side of the road or in our parks.

[Randall]

Did it include George Carlin's quote a man in Wisconsin tried mailing a watermelon using food stamps?

[WaterMan]

Did it include George Carlin's quote a man in Wisconsin tried mailing a watermelon using food stamps?

 

That sounds like someone who should be hired.

[bpwallace49]

SEC I agree with your premise, but I misunderstood your scope. I apologize.

 

I think a mix of part-time volunteerism combined with job searching/new job training would be very beneficial. I would rather they focus on getting employed FIRST to get off welfare/assistance and have the community service be a secondary aspect.

[Perchoutofwater]

Now Bauer has folks shaking their heads again, after he likened government assistance to the poor to feeding stray animals.

 

At a town hall meeting Thursday, Bauer, who is running for governor in his own right now that Sanford is term-limited, said: "My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed! You're facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don't think too much further than that."

 

Link

[Ursa Majoris]

Link

 

 

A child of divorce who benefited from free lunches himself, Bauer insisted he wasn't bad-mouthing people laid off from work in the recession or advocating taking food from children, but rather emphasizing the need to break the cycle of dependency.

 

Hypocrite much?

[Perchoutofwater]

Hypocrite much?

 

Well, he kept going back to school didn't he