Welfare

Raising America to depend on the government, another one of those great topics that brings up quite an argument. Welfare was initially started to act as a safety net, but now the program is being abused. People are selling their food stamps to buy alcohol. The government now allows stores to accept food stamps for junk food. If you are really living in poverty you are not going to stop by the corner store to buy a soda and a bag of chips. The program is being abused and as a taxpaying American I disagree with how the government is spending our money on welfare. Ronald Reagan said, " welfare's purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence".  Welfare was meant to be a temporary " help " for those in need until they got back on their feet. But now people rely on it as part of their income. The mentality of most people on welfare is wrong, they use it because that's the way they think it's supposed to be. There needs to be more educating and training involved. Case workers need to sit down with welfare recipients and teach them morals, ethics, financial responsibility and motivate them to provide for themselves. That is what they used to do, and it would help a lot if they went back to doing it that way. Welfare has many negative affects on children which I have researched and am going to share with you. First of all it has an affect on the child's development. Prolonged welfare dependence reduces children's IQ level, and a child's earnings in future years. It is proven that children on welfare are more likely to do poorly in school. They are more likely to have behavioral/emotional problems, drop out of school, suffer from physical abuse, engage in early sexual activity, experiment with drugs and be on welfare when they become adults. And plus, we as taxpayers are paying for all this. In 2001, just one year, food stamp spending increased from 39 billion to 75 billion. To me, all this sounds like a double wammy. America gets deeper and deeper in debt every year, and people on welfare become more dependent on the government. It's a downward spiral that just keeps getting worse. We need to correct this issue by slowly weening off welfare while communities, churches, friends and family take it's place. Before I go off on a rant about how to fix the problem, lets find out what the cause is so we can prevent it. Believe it or not, the root of the problem comes from marriage, or should I say, lack there of. Majority of people on welfare are single mothers who are divorced or never got married in the first place. So if we could just keep the father around to support the family, we could have a lot less people on welfare. This in turn would better the child's upbringing and reduce welfare spending. There you go, that's how you prevent our double wammy. Well I guess it's not that easy. First we need to start with morals, ethics, and abstinence. The result of all these is a father who loves and supports his family. These days society teaches us that it is easy and okay to run away from our problems if it's not convenient for us. People think it's okay to divorce your spouse because they see it in hollywood. And society accepts that evil, and it becomes normal. That's why people don't understand why divorce is wrong because they see it as normal. Here is a fact for you. If poor mothers married the father of their children, 3/4 of youth  would no longer be in poverty. We need to reward marital responsibility, not single motherhood. That's how to prevent welfare, now, how do we fix it? Like I said earlier, welfare recipients need to move from government dependence  to family and friends, or your local church. Their are plenty of people in the community willing to help. People on welfare are not going to like this because it means they will have to take responsibility and stop being lazy. They will have to get a job, set goals and be a good example for their children. Now, i'm not saying all people on welfare are lazy. There are some families that are living in poverty  and doing everything they can to feed their children, and I respect them for that. But most people today are just lazy and greedy, and they just want more money for their income. I challenge all of you to help prevent and reverse the affects of welfare. For those on welfare, ask yourself. Do I really need that extra money that the taxpayers are giving me or could I get a job instead? What if I just got help and worked things out with the father? Those who are not on welfare. Lend a helping hand. Inform people of food banks, offer to help babysit, be an example, have high morale standards. Let them know you are there to help if they need it. One person can't change everything, but if we all pitch in, it's a lot easier.

The Comfort God Gives Us

"In this world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
God tells us life is not always going to be a joy ride. We will go through struggles and it's not going to be easy all the time, but we have hope because Jesus conquered and won. He gives us our strength from day to day. Hard times is what we should want, sounds crazy right? Even though it may not be what we want, it builds character and perseverance. As James puts it, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work,  that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." (James 1:2-4) Hard times and trials build character and you become a better person in the end. It's like refining gold. Just as gold is put into a furnace we are put through trials and the end result is better than it was to start. So every time life gets hard or you are dealing with a difficult situation, remember two things. 1) God has already conquered the world and 2) hard times produce a better you. Instead of cursing and getting all worked up, slow down, think about what is happening and then praise God for your trials and tribulations for he is molding you and working in your life.