Endless Welfare Money Tree

 Kevin L. Mayer, co-news-editor 

Imagine never having to do anything but collect a government paycheck day after day. This is the situation we find many Americans in.

In 1995, the Texas Legislature passed a welfare reform bill. Although this new bill placed time limits on recipients, it left loopholes as well. While a one-to-three-year time limit was enacted, there is a five-year ban after limits have been reached.

Every new piece of legislation passed has been geared more toward work rather than just welfare. Welfare recipients are given a time limit that is based on their mental and physical capabilities, along with the work history of the individual.

I know you are waiting for the catch, and here it is. It’s in the legislation. As always, somehow loopholes get left in the bills that our elected officials decide to pass and set in stone.

In Texas, the time limit does not take affect until the individual is called up to enter the welfare-training program. The problem is that in some rural areas, these training programs are unavailable, leaving no end in site to the free money. This is completely different than that of the federal system that starts the clock upon receipt of the first welfare payment.

The main exemption in both the Texas and federal welfare systems is that some individuals are exempt from the time restraints placed on welfare for economic or personal hardship reasons.

When Franklin D. Roosevelt created the New Deal, his intentions were always short term. Roosevelt mentioned this in one of his State of the Union speeches. He planned for welfare to be phased out. We currently have generations of families collecting welfare. How can this be? There is a special clause stating that a low economic, poorly developed county could extend the limitations on welfare. Though it may be unbelievable, these counties encourage this situation.

We really need to set up a Texas Welfare-Worker Program that will actually get the individuals up, out, and working. I say, set up a program very much like the community service system we currently have. There is always something that can be cleaned, fixed, or built. If these individuals were looking to receive government handouts, they would be looking in the wrong place if they came to me.

Under my plan, work must be done and results must be visible in order to get paid. If someone on welfare does not complete his or her set community service hours, his or her welfare check would be withheld for that month. Also, each year on welfare increases the amount of community service that must be complete.

Government subsidies, though sometimes helpful, have begun to erode our society. Although we are always supposed to help our fellow man better himself and our civilization, we are not meant to carry them.