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Conservatives have mixed expectations in this area. Conservative George Gilder, in Wealth and Poverty (1984), noted that recipients of state General Assistance (GA) programs (basically, childless adults not eligible for federal welfare programs) tend to be poorly qualified for employment; Gilder described many GA recipients as "halt and lame". Gilder had no expectation that cutting back or eliminating GA programs would move recipients from the dole into jobs.
In 1991, the newly elected governor of Michigan quickly delivered on his campaign promise to end the state's GA program, which paid recipients not quite $200 per month. Recipients also had some bare-bones version of Medicaid called "GA Medicaid" - which for some was undoubtedly more attractive than the cash benefits.
A year later, one of the major newspapers attempted to find out what happened to the former recipients. As best they could tell, about 17 percent of the former recipients had jobs, many others had moved back into their parents' basement or went on disability (sound familiar?) which actually paid much better than GA ever did, or could not be found. Two former recipients were found dead after the abandoned house in which they were squatting had a fire in the middle of the winter.
I don't think people realize that "welfare" can actually save money.
I am thinking about programs that house the homeless, since people are probably not aware of how many resources homeless eat up in terms of police, medical, and courts. However, stick them in a subsidized apartment, and not only are they more likely to get a job and deal with their issues (be they mental or drug), but you free up other resources and actually save money.
So, I'd like to see a pragmatic rather than dogmatic approach. What works best, what saves us the most money?..
I would think a good portion of those on welfare have no motivation to work. If that's taken away from them, how the hell are they going to go about face, go to school, and start working and taking responsibility? My guess is they would find other means to survive *cough* committing even more crimes *cough*
There will always be people that have no shame. It's unfortunate.
We have to wait until we decrease the surplus population... Globalization makes it easier to have work performed elsewhere for a lower cost. The baby boomers grew up in a world where 20% of the world population controlled 80% of the wealth, but we are switching to a period where 35% of the world controls 65% of the wealth. Opportunities still exist, but maybe not as many in the west as there used to be.
The vast majority of people are still making more than min wage though.
But...but...conservatives say there is lots and lots and lots of opportunity.
You have to be hired by an eligible employer before you can get paid training. I'm pretty close to retirement age, so I can't imagine why an employer wouldn't hire an equally-qualified worker half my age.
What some of you are missing is that taxes and regulation have something to do with the lack of jobs. For example, one poster noted the lack of jobs in Ill. I'm sure he's correct. But consider that Ill has a very corrupt govt., in some cases requires campaign contributions. Also consider that they just increased the income tax, plus their state govt. is in deep debt. That is not going to encourage business to expand or hire. Some are leaving Ill. because of the problem. This recession/depression is very different, depending on where you live. Texas, Ok. Neb. Fl. ND are doing pretty good. These are low tax states with governments that are low regulation, low tax. So businesses move there and there is growth and expansion. Not only that, but because of the attractive environment, businesses from other countries are building and moving to these places. Its not rocket science. If you create an environment that encourages captialism, you will get growth. IMHO, most people would prefer a job to a handout. That will do more to get people off the state checks than anything.
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