Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration may have declared it over, but a new War on Poverty is coming anyways. It will be fought largely over the "work requirement" -- should the government require welfare recipients either to get a job or to train for one? It's a philosophical as much as a practical question. A work requirement addresses a dilemma of all welfare programs. If you make eligibility and benefits too generous, you destroy the incentive to work. People will just collect their welfare checks. But if the program is too stingy and strict, many genuinely needy people may lack...

Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed Republican legislation Thursday that would drop thousands of low-income families from Missouri’s welfare rolls by paring back benefits to what he said would be one of the shortest time periods in the nation. But Nixon’s veto may be only a last-grasp attempt to stop the tougher restrictions. Republicans, who hold overwhelming legislative majorities, said they expect to get the two-thirds vote needed in each chamber to override his veto. Missouri’s legislation would reduce the lifetime limit for receiving TANF benefits from five years—which is the national norm—to three years and nine months, starting Jan. 1....

Anger toward those living below the poverty line seems to only be increasing. Maine and Missouri have proposed bills limiting residents’ food choices if they use SNAP. Missouri House Bill 813 would bar the state’s 930,000 food stamp recipients from using their benefits to buy cookies, chips, soda, energy drinks, steak and seafood. (The legislature also implemented mandatory drug testing for TANF applicants in 2011.) If the bill becomes law, a Missourian can’t buy a can of tuna with an EBT card. Tortilla chips to go with salsa? Nope. Flank steak — tough, stringy and the only cut of beef...

Under President Obama’s new program to protect millions of illegal immigrants from deportation, many of those affected will be eligible to receive Social Security, Medicare and a wide array of other federal benefits, a White House official said Tuesday. In his speech Thursday night, the president touted his plan as a means of bringing accountability to a broken immigration system, under which 11 million or more people are estimated to be living in this country illegally. “We’re going to offer the following deal: If you’ve with been in America more than five years. If you have children who are American citizens...

Welcome to Montana's new one-stop wonder. The website where residents can apply for Obamacare, food stamps, and housing assistance in one convenient location. The Montana Department of Public Health & Human Services' recently launched website streamlines the application process for various government assistance programs. The new system allows individuals to enter their information just once to apply for these three programs: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) - Formerly Food StampsTemporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) - Cash assistanceHealth Coverage Assistance - Medicaid, Healthy Montana Kids, health insurance assistance and tax credits through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace The website encourages applicants to learn more about...

Budget cuts aimed at weaning Americans off of public assistance may make the start of 2014 lean for many African-Americans. Last month, after much debate, Congress began implementing it’s budget cut plan to reduce funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program otherwise known as SNAP. The program provides monetary help for families in poverty and alleviates food insecurity. SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is used by approximately 47 million Americans. But with funding reductions and bans for convicted felons many people wonder how Americans will finally be able to climb out of poverty. Who needs SNAP? The...

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who has decried the failure of Congress to extend unemployment benefits before its December recess, is talking about changing the vocabulary of assistance. In a speech Jan. 8 on the House of Representatives floor, Jackson Lee suggested renaming government welfare. "Maybe the word 'welfare' should be changed to something of, 'a transitional living fund,'" Jackson Lee said, according to a post on The Minority Report blog. "For that is what it is - for people to be able to live," she said....

They may be on welfare, but that doesn’t stop them from vacationing. According to an analysis of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, Maine welfare cash has been spent in every other state in the Union, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Department of Health and Human Services records related to TANF, a program intended to provide cash assistance to low-income families, was obtained by The Maine Wire pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act request. The data includes three years’ worth of transactions involving Maine Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards, the debit cards that carry benefits...

SALEM, Ore. - Tough economic times in recent years have led to heartbreaking decisions for many pet owners. But now, there may be more help on the way. Marissa Jenkins' 6-year-old Dachshund, Olivia, is more than a dog. "She's been part of our family, she's definitely not a dog," Jenkins said. "She's a kid to us." Recently, the Salem, Ore., family welcomed a new addition - and a new challenge. "My husband lost his job in February and we just had a baby in December, and so all the costs of having a baby and a dog and a family...

Syndicated columnist Pat Buchanan made a statement on Fox News's On the Record Tuesday that is guaranteed to raise eyebrows on both sides of the aisle. Speaking with host Greta Van Susteren about how Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's remarks concerning the 47 percent of the nation that don't pay federal income taxes were spot on, Buchanan called Barack Obama a "Fabian Socialist" and "a drug dealer of welfare." (VIDEO AT LINK) PAT BUCHANAN: Look at Europe. Look at France. Look at Spain. Look at Greece. Look at Italy. The public sectors have gotten so huge that these places are...

There is no gender gap. There is a marriage gap. A Sept. 13 poll I conducted (912 likely voters, national sample) found that while married white women back Romney by 55 to 40 percent, unmarried white women back Obama by 60-32! Since unmarried white women are 45 percent of all white women, this marriage gap poses a huge problem for Romney — the central problem. In his recent off-the-record comments, Romney characterized his opponents’ supporters as relying on government entitlements and handouts. He said that 47 percent of Americans get checks from the government and are likely to vote for...

The Obama administration’s efforts at extending executive authority were dealt a setback on Tuesday. The bipartisan Government Accountability Office flagged the administration’s end run around Congress in its July memo announcing changes to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) act, aka “welfare reform.” The GAO said that the White House needs to give Congress the chance to block its plan that permits states to tweak the work requirements that needy families must satisfy in order to receive government assistance under the program. The official word came in the form of a letter to lawmakers from GAO’s general counsel, Lynn...

Mitt Romney, hoping to draw a sharp contrast on welfare, is citing a disputed charge that President Barack Obama is giving recipients a free ride, and he can point to his own record of pushing for tighter rules. Romney, Massachusetts governor from 2003 to 2007, fought to require single parents with children as young as a year old to work to get welfare benefits if they could obtain state-subsidized child care. He opposed efforts to allow time spent in job training or education programs to count toward the state's 20-hour weekly work requirement for welfare recipients, and pushed for a...

A convenience store clerk who was fired recently for refusing to sell cigarettes to a customer trying to pay for them with state welfare benefits has been fired, but her story has gained traction in local and national media. According to press reports, Jackie Whiton was working at a C.N. Brown Big Apple convenience store recently when a man in his 20s attempted to purchase cigarettes using an electronic benefit transfer card, which is issued to families in New Hampshire and Maine who are on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF program. Whiton, a six-year employee of the...

In 2010, the state of Florida successfully passed legislation requiring welfare recipients to submit to a drug test in order to continue receiving governmental assistance. Since then, the state has decreased the number of applicants by 48 percent and saved just under two million dollars. It is only a matter of time before more states catch onto this age of new fiscal restraints. Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has modeled this Florida law in his state. In a press release from his office on Monday, Governor Deal praised Florida for their success and defended the law in his state saying, “This...

“My Time at Walmart” looked at the incredible and outrageous abuses of the welfare system that I observed while working summers at Walmart. My follow-up looked at how those who didn’t like my message made me the message. This one will blow your mind. Some like to make the issue of welfare a complicated mess, filled with statistical anomalies and outliers. The solutions, while not always politically correct, are simple. And they meet the standards of common sense. 1. Welfare recipients should pass a drug test before they receive benefits of any kind. I had to be drug tested to...

Saying it is "unfair for Florida taxpayers to subsidize drug addiction," Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday signed legislation requiring adults applying for welfare assistance to undergo drug screening. "It's the right thing for taxpayers," Scott said after signing the measure. "It's the right thing for citizens of this state that need public assistance. We don't want to waste tax dollars. And also, we want to give people an incentive to not use drugs." Under the law, which takes effect on July 1, the Florida Department of Children and Family Services will be required to conduct the drug tests on adults...

According to the CDC, 66% of adults over the age of 20 are overweight or obese. That is approximately 140 million adults. Somewhere between 15 and 20 million Americans can be classified as alcoholics. As many as 50% of those on welfare are alcoholics. There are 225 million people over 18 years old and 32 million of them do not have a high school degree. There are 32 million adults or 14% who are illiterate (23% in California, 22% in New York, 20% in Florida, 17% in New Jersey). The United States’ spending per pupil in public schools at $9,266...

Supporting the Particular Welfare by: Bethany Stotts, December 04, 2008 Since Welfare Reform was enacted in 1996, the number of welfare recipients receiving cash aid has dropped precipitously, from 4.5% of the population to 1.5%. But decreases in recipiency—participation in one or more welfare programs—have been small: In 1996, 16 % of the population received one or more of these benefits while nine years later, 15 % were recipients. What we commonly call welfare is officially called Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF). Before 1996, it was called Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). Additionally, the Social Security Administration...

Hey girls, want to get skanky? Well, sashay down to your local abuse shelter and get buzzed! No, you don't have to be a real victim of domestic violence. All you need is a convincing story. Last year Hollie Cephas of Monticello, Ark. arrived on the doorstep of the Options shelter to recount her tale of woe: Her husband had beaten her to the point of having two miscarriages, he hid her insulin, and once he even called her a "fat pig." The intake worker at Options had been taught to "always believe the victim," so of course she was...