Posted on 07/02/2013 10:52:09 AM PDT by upchuck
Pennsylvania's safety net is in trouble. State Republicans are increasingly critical of it, and, despite an increase from last year, the state's new budget doesn't boost welfare spending to the level desired by Republican Gov. Tom Corbett. But state lawmakers have a way to save Pennsylvania's Department of Public Welfare: Change the name.
The state House approved a bill Monday night that will gradually change the name of the department to the Department of Human Services. The department, which was awarded $11 billion in the budget approved last week, oversees a wide range of safety-net programs, from medical care to services for the elderly, the poor, and those with special needs. The name change has the support of the United Way, state Republicans, and the head of the department. When you look at polling around "welfare," its easy to see why.
When respondents to a June NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll were asked to identify the factor "most responsible for the continuing problem of poverty," the most popular answer given was "too much welfare that prevents initiative." Some 24 percent of poll respondents gave that answer, compared with 18 percent who blamed the lack of job opportunities. This is despite recent polling from Pew that found that 57 percent of Americans say that the government has the responsibility "to care for those who cannot take care of themselves." One way to help connect the negative impression of "welfare" and the positive impression of government help? Use a different word.
Pennsylvania Public Welfare Secretary Bev Mackereth knows this. "A lot of people believe that the word 'welfare' presents a huge stigma to people," she told the York Daily Record/Sunday News. That stigma isn't just about people opposed to "welfare." That stigma is also attached to welfare recipients, who can become the focus of those negative attitudes.
Read the rest of the article here.
More popular! Upwards of 50% of the country are on welfare now.
More popular means less workers, more takers.
Why it’s well known and is a magnet! What else do you want!
A billboard the lists the free stuff?
By the way Medicare is not welfare!
A longtime RINO state legislator from my area who now heads PA DPW is fine with the change and obviously so is the GOP-E Governor Tom Corbett.
“Republicans” support this idea in Pennsylvania.
Call it 0bama’s stash.
Any Republican governor who is not happy with the level of increases to welfare because they’re not large enough needs to be replaced.
The only way Red states will remain Red is if they cut welfare to the bone and drive the low information, low ambition voters out and into the dependency states.
Parasite Benefits?
The conservative approach is always to fix the problem. If you don't like being see as a parasite, get a job.
Jobs: the conservative solution to the problem with welfare's image.
Voter Bait.
Like “Handout”? Money paid to you by people who work for a living and the government taking it from them and giving it to you?
Corbett can’t raise taxes too much so he is tightening welfare some and he has to keep female voters happy so he throws a little more money at public schools.
Overall the new budget in PA just passed raises spending 2.6 percent and cuts business taxes 300 million dollars.
The GOP in PA is walking a fine line trying to make both sides happy.
The sops to keep conservatives happy with pushes for pension reform and getting rid of state owned liquor stores bogged down by RINO’s in the State Senate.
But there is also a push to raise the price of gasoline by backdoor means. Some Republicans want to raise it at the wholesale level instead of the pump which is a meaningless thing.
If the new tax passes, we end up paying more at the pump anyway.
That’s how the GOP-E plays the political game here in PA.
“Societal leach pay”
Sounds similar to the way Government Motors markets its cars. The small Chevy model is on at least its fourth different name.
SUE - Society of Useless Eaters
So we won’t “ensure welfare”, we will “service humans”? That’s an improvement?
Back in 1965 I worked for the county department I worked for was Child Welfare. Can’t remember at what point they changed it to Children’s Services and/or Child Protection Services. Public Assistance (welfare) was provided by the county Welfare Department. That got changed to Social Services. Back then, people got surplus food. Then it was changed to Food Stamps. The names just keep evolving as time goes on.
And this is mind you in a state where REPUBLICANS hold the Governorship and BOTH HOUSES of the State Legislature.
I suppose if the Dems were running things it would now be the Department of Skittles and Dreams.
If only that would fit on a bumper sticker. Perfect. It needs to be restated and shoved down leftists throats every time they use some new term for an out of favor concept - like "progressive".
I beg to differ. All old-age payments from the government to individuals are welfare. (The one exception that could possibly be argued is the old railroad workers retirement system.) There never was a savings account with anyone's name on it... instead, the monies retiree's paid in over the years went to right back out to pay for the old age welfare payments of the then current retiree's or it went into the general fund and was spent on other things. Once the state gets their hands on the money we pay in, it stops being our money.
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