Peter Ferrara, of Forbes magazine, talks about our country’s system of welfare and his thoughts about the system. 'Welfare State' Doesn't Adequately Describe How Much America's Poor Control Your Wallet
Q: There are many government programs for the poor, what are some of them and how big is all of the welfare system?
A: “It is more like a vast empire bigger than the entire budgets of almost every other country in the world. America’s welfare empire encompasses close to 200 or more federal/state programs, including 23 low income health programs, 27 low income housing programs, 30 employment and training programs, 34 social services programs, at least 13 food and nutrition programs, and 24 low income child care programs, among others.”
Q: How much money is our government using for these federal programs?
A: “Federal and state governments spend a trillion dollars a year just on these means tested welfare programs, which does not include Social and Medicare. That is more than we spend on national defense. It adds up to roughly $17,000 per person in poverty, over $50,000 for a poor family of three. The Census Bureau estimates that our current welfare spending totals four times what would be necessary just to give all of the poor the cash to bring them up to the poverty line, eliminating all poverty in America.”
Q: What would you say are the main causes of poverty here in America?
A: “Non-work and having children outside of marriage are the two main causes of poverty in America today. Indeed, full time work year round at the current minimum wage, plus the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and the Child Tax Credit, would be enough to lift every American family out of poverty. Yet, the typical poor family with children today is supported by only about 800 hours of work during a year, or 16 hours per week.”
Source: www.sodahead.com
As a whole, we are spending ungodly amounts of money on government programs for the poor. It is hard to say that this needs to be stopped because one of the main roots of poverty is out of wedlock marriages, which is no longer looked down in our culture. Saying our entire culture needs to change is way too far fetched so we need to change the way we spend on all our government programs.
You has a quote don for question #2 that was interesting. It said that our current welfare program is spending 4 times more than what would be needed to bring America out of poverty. TED talks states that when we come out of a world of poverty, the world will naturally balance it's population out, providing sustainable life to come. My point is then what could our government do to get America out of poverty, because obviously it still exists. They only need 1/4 of what they are using to achieve this.
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