Dear next President,

Work, you probably go to work for hours a day. You come home and you’re exhausted but you have to do it all again the next day to provide for your family. Many Americans go through the same issue everyday. Wouldn’t it be nice to sit home and just have money handed to you? Well for 109,631,000 Americans that is the case. Through the corrupt system of welfare these Americans support their family.

The government is granting people money and food stamps who are not even that poor. In 2011 the requirement for one to receive welfare in the continental United States was a household income of $22,350. Making that amount of money is enough for a family to get by if they manage their money correctly. CNN news channel stated, “America’s poor today live better than their predecessors in earlier generations and better than the poor in other nations”. Over 1 trillion dollars is spent every year on welfare. “You’ll be surprised to learn that many of the 30 million Americans defined as “poor” and in need of government assistance aren’t quite what you’d expect — rather than homeless and on the streets, the average poor American household has luxuries like air conditioning, cable TV, and Xbox video game consoles,” a summary of the Heritage Foundation report reads. People in grocery stores place expensive groceries on the conveyer belt to purchase them, then they pull out their welfare card. Isn’t this telling the country that something is wrong?

With the current system people get too comfortable and lazy. In Welfare Time Limits it states, “Nearly half the national welfare caseload is in states that either have no time limit (2 states) or a time limit that reduces or modifies benefits when the limit is reached (8 states and the District of Columbia).” If there is no time limit or benefits simply get reduced, why would one care to get a job? Matters are made even worse because all states allow exemptions from running out of time, extensions, or both. According to data released by the Census Bureau in 2012, “109,631,000 Americans lived in households that received benefits from one or more federally funded "means-tested programs" — also known as welfare —”.

Another issue with welfare is, not only are some people working hard and some sitting home but also the people who are working are the ones paying for the people on welfare. According to Discover the Networks, “In the U.S. today, total spending on means-tested welfare programs amounts to $956 billion per year. This figure represents an increase of 32% over the level of welfare spending that was in place at the beginning of the Obama presidency. On average, each federal income taxpayer in America spends $8,776 annually to keep federal welfare programs afloat.” Not only are YOU as a taxpayer funding these welfare programs but Discover the Networks says you’re over paying them. “America's $956 billion in annual welfare spending is distributed among approximately 100 million people—i.e., one-third of the U.S. population—who each month receive aid from at least one of the country's 80+ welfare programs. Average benefits amount to approximately $9,500 per recipient. If converted entirely to cash, these benefits equal more than five times the amount of money needed to lift every poor person in the United States out of poverty.”

The welfare system needs to change. The government needs to make restrictions as to what you can buy when one is on welfare. Also they need to shorten the time period that people are on welfare. This would help the hardworking taxpayers save money that they earned. Welfare is meant to help people through tough times, it is not meant to be a main support system for families.

Respectfully,

Lauren

Works Cited

Schechter, Dave. “Poverty in America: If Poor People Own 'Luxury' Items, Are They Really Poor?” http://newsroom.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/11/poverty-in-america-if-poor-people-own-luxury-items-are-they-really-poor/

Bloom, Dan

http://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/full_607.pdf

Jeffery P., Terence

http://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/terence-p-jeffrey/354-percent-109631000-welfare

Francis R, David

http://www.nber.org/digest/jul01/w8153.html

Frantic Foodie

http://franticfoodie.com/10-most-important-welfare-pros-and-cons/

Discover The Networks.org

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/viewSubCategory.asp?id=1676

Frantic Foodie

http://franticfoodie.com/10-most-important-welfare-pros-and-cons/

Discover The Networks.Org

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/viewSubCategory.asp?id=1676

The American Prospect

http://prospect.org/article/five-reasons-food-stamps-work-just-fine