"How Georgia declared war on its poorest citizens—leaving them to fight for themselves." (Atlanta: fit in, unemployment)

[rcsteiner]

Just wondering what people's thoughts are about this:

Georgia’s war against the poor: The southern state is emptying its welfare rolls at the same time that poverty is soaring. - Slate Magazine

[AcidSnake]

Growing up poor, I understand how rough things can get.

But in all honesty, I am so glad that I was a poor 80s to early 90s kid when the effects of the Reagan era haven't yet set in rather than being a poor person now. At least for my mom she didn't have to struggle too much with attaining public assistance.

But these days? My gosh, people have gotten so much more unhappy, angry, meanspirited, miserly, and quite hateful towards their fellow man.

If this is the end result of the 80s conservative pushback campaign, then job well done.

[tonygeorgia]

I love it. Maybe this will teach people to get off their ___ and stop waiting for my tax dollars to help them out. A few exemptions are ok but you know the people that I'm talking about

[geog-fanatic]

That was a very eye-opening article. I have a difficult time agreeing with the tactics they used, especially if they result in discouraging potential recipients from furthering their education. Plus, the methods they use to push people into jobs are wrong. Why not provide a skills-based job search that better matches people to open positions than forcing them to just meet a minimum count for job applications by week?

One question, though... How do housing subsidies fit into the picture? Are they at a federal level and not managed by the state?

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Just wondering what people's thoughts are about this:

Georgia’s war against the poor: The southern state is emptying its welfare rolls at the same time that poverty is soaring. - Slate Magazine

You have to take into account that 20% of Georgians are getting food stamps. And as we discussed in another thread, in many school systems the majority of students are also getting free breakfast and lunch.

You also have to factor in stuff like Medicare and PeachCare. That provides medical and dental coverage to about 1 in 5 Georgians.

There's also the Atlanta Housing Authority, which serves 50,000 clients -- that's quite a bit for a city of only 420,000. I don't know but would assume that the other cities and counties in metro Atlanta do the same thing.

[Atlwarrior]

I do have compassion for those that truly need help, but year after year is called system abuse. I believe in good hard work, even at the the min wage level. But I will not feel sorry for the lazy or those who refuse to go back to school to upgrade their skills for a more desirable job. Being a adult equal responsiblity, that's just the name of the game.

[GeorgiatoChina]

We know from research that financial concerns are probably the No. 1 reason why victims don't leave, or go back. Usually TANF will be a stepping stone, and now that it's going, people are having to make hard choices."

This is very sad.

[AcidSnake]

In 2010 Georgia was ranked at number 10 for the top ten states with the most domestic violence deaths according to the Violence Policy Center.

http://www.vpc.org/studies/wmmw2012.pdf

And most of the states with the most domestic violence-related deaths are in the south.

Imagine that.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by Atlwarrior

I do have compassion for those that truly need help, but year after year is called system abuse. I believe in good hard work, even at the the min wage level. But I will not feel sorry for the lazy or those who refuse to go back to school to upgrade their skills for a more desirable job. Being a adult equal responsibility, that's just the name of the game.

But that's what scares me... read the whole article/situation... we've been using these arguments/sound bites for decades to pull a majority of assistance to go towards people down on their luck (because the economy doesn't have enough overall jobs for everyone!) and those in struggling social situations/trying to get through school/prevent kids from growing up too poor to become more productive/etc... This also doesn't mention our failures with mental health care, which is a major problem that relates.

Whenever we have social conditions of people becoming newly single with kids, children in poverty, etc... there will be a need.

Whenever we have economic conditions where there are not enough jobs for everyone... there is a need. When we use arguments that only look at the individual we are assigning flaws of macro level problems to individuals. We can't blame an individual for being the weakest link. At the end of the day, even if that individual became more competitive and got a job... someone else wouldn't have a job in their place. The problem is the overall number of jobs and not necessarily the individuals. And granted.. this changes with economic cycles, but it doesn't make it less of a reality. That is what is troubling right now is we are at an all time low welfare, while we are at an a long-term high on unemployment.

[marilyn220]

Wow. You guys must be real proud of yourselves.