Is Arizona HB 2770 a step in the right direction, or is it just ineffective political posturing?
You decide.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
A Step In The Right Direction?
An Arizona politician is sponsoring a bill that would place restrictions on what welfare recipients can purchase. For example, if you're on the public dole, you won't be allowed to buy booze, smokes, or big screens. Hmm. I foresee a massive exodus from the welfare rolls if this legislation passes and has enough teeth for enforcement.
Is Arizona HB 2770 a step in the right direction, or is it just ineffective political posturing?
You decide.
Is Arizona HB 2770 a step in the right direction, or is it just ineffective political posturing?
You decide.
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I don't foresee a big exodus off welfare - I see a big bunch of lawyers filing a gazillion challenges on constitutional grounds.
ReplyDeleteWhich I don't get. It's not like there's no choice available for people, they aren't being forcibly kept from these things. They choose to take money that has strings attached.
No one has a constitutional right to my paycheck. (You don't want to know my thoughts on these lawyers. This is a family blog.) :)
ReplyDeleteIt miffs me to no end when the person ahead of me at the grocery store is paying for steak and shrimp with a food stamp card, while I've got a bag of beans and a ham hock. Grr....
That's how I feel, lady red. But that's also what happens when people begin to see welfare as a *right* rather than as a gift of help.
ReplyDeleteThere isn't so much as a thank you.
When I was a kid, if your family was on the dole they were ostracized by the community at large, and the few people I knew who went that route got back on their feet as quickly as they could.
ReplyDeleteI wore home-made clothes, and my sister wore hand-me-downs. We got one new pair of cheap shoes a year. My dad hunted for meat, and we ate sparingly (no second helpings, usually). We had a tiny black-and-white television (and felt rich because we did). We lived through it just fine, and with our self-respect intact.
I have little sympathy for what is considered "poverty" in America today. My dad worked as an insurance adjuster during the day, pounded fenders at night, and had another small business on the side which he worked on the weekends. He drove a tow truck for awhile, and he sold tools out of a van for awhile. Whatever it took, he did. Whatever he brought home, we lived on.
You know, I'm not that anciently old either. Really. REALLY.
ReplyDeleteThe entire mindset has changed in less than 50 years, one social program at a time. It's scary.
I think it serves as perfect illustration of what will happen if/when government takes over health-care. If you depend on the government dole you follow the government rules. Sadly, for many, that is no problem. Of course for a large segment of folks if they had any self-respect or pride in individual freedom and responsibility they wouldn't be on the dole in the first place. I don't mean to be a total curmudgeon here, I realize that for many bumps have appeared on their road to self sufficiency.
ReplyDeleteEverybody has bumps, but I think the safety net should be provided by churches, families, and civic groups. Government handouts strip people of their pride and self-respect.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm a curmudgeon too. :(
I tend to agree with you, Lady Red. But, as you mention above, we are a different society than we were fifty years ago. I'm not sure that we can ever return to those days, or, in some ways, that we should wish to do so. It is difficult, but I try to keep in mind some historical perspective on the changes that we have lived through, will live through. Every generation has a tendency to view change from their own limited (while they're alive) perspective. So, I try to ask myself, is it better now than it used to be for most folks, including those who 'need' safety nets. Are we on a path, that no matter what we see as dire today, that will end up being better as well in the long run. I don't have an answer.
ReplyDeleteLuther - can we ask those questions using examples from the current generation?
ReplyDeleteBecause I see a lot of my peers and younger who have received awards merely for showing up, who think they are "owed" grades and respect, and who think "personal fulfillment" is more important than earning a living.
Frank Luntz's book talks a lot about "Generation Zero" (although he doesn't like to use that term), and it's truly hair raising. The slogan for that generation, raised with entitlement mentality, is "That's not fair!". There's no understanding that LIFE isn't fair, and you can't legislate it into being that way.
So - another book I'm pushing because I would love to discuss it with people. :)
NO, AFW, that'd be too damn scary.
ReplyDeleteOh, it's too late. :)
"Because I see a lot of my peers and younger who have received awards merely for showing up, who think they are "owed" grades and respect, and who think "personal fulfillment" is more important than earning a living."
Yes, I know there appears to be pervasive instances of such behavior and I realize it would appear to belie my optimism for the future.
But then, you do know that this isn't the kids fault, the fault lies firmly at the feet of the parents. Anyway, as I said, I have no answers. I just know that most times there is no going back, as much as we might like to do so at times.
Luntz's book, were you speaking of Words that Work?
No - What Americans Really Want... Really
ReplyDeleteAside from the ridiculous title, it's an excellent (if horrifying and scary) read.
It explains a lot.
Okay, AFW, thanks for the clarification. I'll put it on my list.
ReplyDeleteAFW. I just now realized that I may have offended you with my comment about how kids become zeros. I mean being that you're a mother and all.
ReplyDeleteSo let me expound a little more on that subject. If I remember childhood correctly, which at my age is problematic, I was raised as much by my peers as I was by my parents. And also, and what sparked this addition, BY TV.
Reason for that is that I just now caught a glimpse of the TV as I walked by and on the screen was Paladin. Or, Richard Boone if one prefers. The inner child in me immediately shouted out "Paladin". Because he was one of the 'good guys'. That got me thinking of the Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers and the panoply of 'good' role models that I grew up with. They helped raise me as well. Especially as I didn't have much of a father and him only until I was ten or so. Is there anything like that now on TV for kids?
Anyway, there are many influences on a child's development and I should have been more circumspect in my casual and off-hand judgment. I don't always think first before shouting off at the mouth.
Um, Luther - I totally didn't take it that way. But thank you for thinking so kindly about me as to apologize for the possibility!
ReplyDeleteThere are many things I could criticize Hillary Clinton on, but when she said "It takes a village," she was right. Even when people were spitting in anger about the phrase, she was right.
As kids get older, they get a lot more influenced by those outside the home rather than parents and family. I was, my eldest is, my younger kids will be. As parents, we do the best we can to lay a good foundation, but that's not 100%. It is what it is.
And it is scary.
Better safe than sorry, my motto. Hillary was right. I was also raised by the old lady of no relation across the street, who called my mother about any shenanigans she could see me doing while she sat on her front porch. Grandma Huckabee she was. A saintly old Southern lady, who's life was so altered when they destroyed the four huge Sycamore trees surrounding her house to pave and put in curbs. Ah hell, I wax nostalgic now.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's right about the multiple influences. And that's the best a parent can do, lay a solid foundation and hope for the best, really.
Bravo! Let's hope it passes - and it could, in this climate. People are fed up with handouts.
ReplyDelete