Dear Next President;

The welfare and government assistance programs must be reformed. Many people abuse the system by having more than one form of government assistance or have assistance they don’t truly need. According to the article "Who’s on Welfare," studies have shown that “more than 20% of the United States population receives public assistance.” We aren’t exactly aware of who of that 20% actually need government assistance, and we aren’t aware of who of that 80% who don’t have some form of assistance, actually need help.

Many people who do not qualify for, say, food stamps might still need the help. For example, my family spends over $1,000 on food every month, having 6 people in our household, and a dog, and we don’t qualify for governmental assistance simply because of the fact that my parents make too much. What they haven’t taken into account are car payments, how much we spend on rent a month, our pets, or anything else that relies on their finances. Sometimes we struggle, living month to month, and can’t always afford food.

On the other hand, someone in my family has 5 kids, but he has all sorts of governmental assistance. He gets food stamps, Welfare, Medicare and TANF. On top of his assistance, he gets paid ‘under the table’; therefore, none of his paystubs are recorded, and he isn’t required to pay taxes because in the eye of the law, he doesn't have a job. To top it all off, he spends all of his money on guns, motorcycles, and speakers for his car. This is a perfect example of somebody who does not need government assistance. According to "Downsizing the Government," “This sort of abuse costs taxpayers about one-fifth of the program's cost, or about $13 billion.”

In conclusion, you and congress must reform all government assistance programs so that the abuse in the system is minimized or even eliminated. Help those who truly need it, and make requirements so that we can make sure the people getting help, need it. I want to change government assistance, and make it so there are more carefully enforced prerequisites to getting assistance. We need to change what our tax dollars go to, and change the chart that determines whether or not someone gets assistance.

Sincerely,

Charles