- A topic like this gets so involved that it's really a fool's errand
to try and get one's arms around it, but I have a few observations from
what little research I did.
- Welfare and food stamps
have not disappeared, but evolved. What we have traditionally thought of them are now
TANF
(Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) and SNAP
(Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Progam) -- and there are still plenty of other
federal assistance programs that fall under the umbrella of welfare.
- On paper (website, that is), the stated objective of TANF is
to "move people toward self-sufficiency." That sounds all well and good,
but my concerns are:
- how effective the outcome of the stated objective really is
- the ever-increasing cost of this and every other federal program, and their impact on our nation's financial health.
- According to
Federal
Safety Net, total welfare spending* for 2019 was $773 billion. To help put that
in perspective -- about $6,233 per taxpayer.
* This includes: Child Care, Child Nutrition, Head Start, Housing Assistance, Job Training, Lifeline (Obama Phone), LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program), Medicaid (Health care for low-income Americans), Negative Income tax (cash paid to working families who pay no income tax), Pell Grants, SNAP, SSI (Supplemental Security Income), TANF, and WIC (high protein food for pregnant Women, Infants and Children up to five years old).
- If you've never visited
www.usdebtclock.org, it's eye-opening
if not depressing.
Using the data therein (as of May, 2020), we are currently about $25 trillion (and growing at a furious pace) in debt, which, again, to help put that in perspective, is about $201 thousand per taxpayer. ¡Ay, caramba! In other words, we're broke and our economy is circling the drain.
- Regardless of our opinions what the role and scope of the federal government
should be, I hope we agree that our government should live within its means
just as you and I do.
- It's been evident over the years that Congress (controlled
by Democrats or Republicans) and presidents (whether Democrats or Republicans)
have been fiscally irresponsible to put it mildly. They have promised the moon
to get votes, continually raised the debt ceiling**, spent like there's
no tomorrow, and have kept kicking our financial can down the road.
** The federal debt ceiling has become meaningless. Why not be honest and just eliminate it? According to Kimberly Amadeo, just the interest on our debt this fiscal year (Oct 2019 - Sep 2020) is $479 billion*** ($3,862 per taxpayer). That's money out of our pockets, not paying for any government service or program, but simply paying interest on past government spending that Congress couldn't afford and borrowed money. And who's benefiting? Foreign governments like China and fat cat Wall Street types that run big banks. Sound like a good idea to you? Not to me.
*** Did you know our defense budget is $750 billion? That's right, folks. It won't be long we'll be paying more in interest on our debt than we do for national defense. Let that sink in.
- Congress will deal with the coming debt crisis in one of two ways:
- The hard way: cut spending across the board to the extent we no longer spend beyond what we take in -- better known as -- balancing the budget.
- The disastrous way: keep skipping down the path of out-of-control spending, oblivious to the Death Star overhead.
- Congress will deal with the coming debt crisis in one of two ways:
- The quest for income equality will be achieved once there's nothing left for anyone. The storm is on the horizon. There will be a day of reckoning that will make the Great Depression seem like a Sunday picnic.
Observing our federal debt can be compared to watching episodes of My 600 Pound Life. No matter what these people say, almost none of them will succeed at solving their real problem -- controlling their eating habit. They get away with it for a while, much longer than one would think possible -- but in the end, they will literally die in the bed they made (and can't get out of).
Likewise, those in Washington D.C., enabled by We the People, have become spendaholics and debt junkies who will not control their spending habit. We've gotten away with it thus far -- but in the end, the outcome will be the same -- an economy that collapses under its own weight, and the misery that follows.
This cartoon unfairly targets Democrats. Republicans are just as much to blame. The biggest loser? Everyone.
- It's been evident over the years that Congress (controlled
by Democrats or Republicans) and presidents (whether Democrats or Republicans)
have been fiscally irresponsible to put it mildly. They have promised the moon
to get votes, continually raised the debt ceiling**, spent like there's
no tomorrow, and have kept kicking our financial can down the road.
