Why we decided to get back on food stamps… 54
We’re not happy about it, but we’re back on food stamps. It wasn’t a choice we made lightly, or quickly, or without regret. In fact, getting back on food stamps probably causes me more grief than relief. It’s just not the place I hoped we’d be at this stage in our lives.
We’ve been married for ten years now. My husband and I both have college degrees, and he has his Master’s. We shouldn’t need food stamps! We shouldn’t need to rely on tax payer money! We certainly don’t want to. In fact, I’d vote against such programs if given the opportunity. I don’t think it’s the government’s job to take care of me.
But it seems as though we’ve chosen to be low-income. My husband works full-time for a non-profit organization, and I’ve chosen to be a stay-at-home mom in order to homeschool our three children. I also substitute teach part-time. So we need a little bit of help financially.
We don’t plan on being on food stamps indefinitely. I’d prefer to be off it now if we could afford it. And you can bet that we’ll get off as soon as our income goes up just a couple hundred dollars a month.
So if we’re generally against government assistance, and if we don’t like being on it, why get back on food stamps? Why not get another job? Why not struggle through life without it? I think it comes down to two things: priorities and availability.
Priorities
As much as I think providing for your family is important, being there for your family is even more important. I think my generation, and perhaps even the generation just prior to my own, really understands where I’m coming from with this. Many parents a generation or two ago sacrificed immensely for their children. They worked long hours, got a second or even third job if necessary, and then still brought their work home with them, and generally did everything they could to pay the bills without help from anyone else.
While I think that this way of life is admirable, I also think it lacks something. Part of being a loving parent is being there for your kids. Spending time with them. Teaching them yourself. Not pushing these responsibilities onto others. And this goes for both the mom AND the dad. Kids need both.
So even though we could make more money by getting more jobs or working more hours, we choose not to because we feel we have a moral responsibility to raise our kids ourselves.
Availability
We also decided to get food stamps again because we’re eligible to do so, and we could benefit from them. We’ve actually been eligible for a long time, but we could make it by without them for a season, so we did. But now that we’ve started losing money consistently again, we felt it was time to utilize the program available to us.
The truth is, almost everyone in the U. S. receives some kind of financial benefit from the government at the expense of taxpayers. Do your kids go to public school? That costs taxpayers $10,615 per year per student. Did you receive and cash a stimulus check back in 2008? The average one cost taxpayers $950, with a total cost of about $152 billion.
I support your usage of these government programs. I don’t necessarily think our government should be spending quite so much on them, but as long as these things are available to you, I think you should utilize them if you can benefit from them.
It’s funny how people are generally fine with spending tax payer money when it’s labelled “education” or “stimulus,” but have a fit about others spending tax payer money when it’s called “nutrition assistance.”
Maybe since my three kids aren’t in public school, the government should send me an “education” check for $31,845 since this is what tax payers would have spent on my kids to go to public school. Then I wouldn’t have any need to be on any kind of “nutrition assistance” program. Sounds like a good idea to me.
You could go to work but chose to stay home and get food stamps instead? How lazy ! Food Stamps should be there for those who need them and if your perfectly capable of working then you dont to be on Food Stamps. If you were working and still needed the help then I would say take the help. But choosing not to work and asking the taxpayers to pay for your food is just plain wrong. Unless your child has health issues or you have a bona fide religious conviction then why are your children not in school? Hell, many homeschooling parents still work full time jobs or the mother may work part time, but they are working to earn the money. WHen I got WIC I went to school full time and worked 40 hours a week. You do what you have to do and if that includes working then you do it. You could work opposite shifts from hubby so that one parent is always home. Its moral to raise your kids yourselves, but not immoral to steal from the taxpayers without trying to bring in extra money.
I see that you work part time as a sub which isnt guaranteed steady employment. Get another job,even if its flipping burgers on the weekends.. have some pride and teach your children a good work ethic.
It seems that you also expect the rest of us to be there for your kids.
No. No. No, my dear lady! You’re ABUSING THE SYSTEM!!! This country is 16 TRILLION dollars in debt and you’re taking tax money you don’t really need. You simply choose not to work. This is the problem with programs like WIC. Nobody watches over them to make sure people like you don’t abuse them. Take your degree, get off your lazy ass and GET A REAL JOB! Me and other taxpayers cannot afford to support you anymore. We need OUR money to support OURSELVES. Welfare whore!
It feels quite hypocritical to participate in a program you’d vote to eliminate. Either you see the inherent value in a system that is there to assist those who need it, or you don’t. If you see that it is valuable enough for you to deliberately *choose* to use rather than find a job, you can surely see why it should be there for those who *can’t* get a job and need that assistance simply to survive.
I see value in providing for those who need help, but the problem is that our government is extremely inefficient in providing that help. I’d much rather see a society that cares for people, whether it be through churches or good old fashioned benevolent neighbors.
Here’s what you do if you and your husband believe in having a full time parent and homeschooling. Your husband gets a better paying job rather than one at a non-profit. You delay having kids for a few years while you work and save money so you can afford to not work for a while. You scrimp, save, and coupon.
What you *don’t* do is decide to reach into the pockets of hardworking people because you’re too damn lazy to hold a job. I bust my ass going to work every day, why should I support a woman married to a man who works full time? You don’t need public assistance and you’re taking resources from those who do need them. There are many parents who’d love to be with their kids full time but they work because they can’t afford not to.
Let’s not forget you’re already getting at least $3000 per year in tax breaks, plus the EITC, so I’m guessing you pay nothing, or close to nothing in taxes while everyone else picks up the burden for your choices. There’s also very little chance of your kids growing up to be productive citizens because they’re spending their childhood seeing you pull out the food stamps so they’re going to do the same thing.
We do scrimp and save. I think this blog makes that clear. We don’t coupon much, because we can often find better savings buying close to expiration date items and off-brand rather than buying name-brand products with a coupon.
And we believe in the work my husband is doing. And most of our country believes in the work he’s doing. I’d rather not disclose his line of work for the sake of privacy, but I can say that most people tell him all the time, “We need more people doing what you do in this country.”
I empathize with your thoughts. I really do. But your beef isn’t so much with my family’s decisions as it is with the laws and programs themselves. And I’m with you there. Our government is extremely bad with money. Local agencies are far more efficient at providing assistance than the government, and I’m all for the government stepping back and allowing local agencies to step up. Until that happens, it doesn’t do any good to blame those who benefit from government assistance. Get people into office who will scale these programs back so local agencies can step up and fill the need.
Just because you can “benefit” does not mean you should. It should be the last recourse, not the first course of action. You are leeching becaue you are not even willing to work.
I commend you for homeschooling your children, even if it means reducing your income. As you noted, you are saving tax payer money by educating your children yourself.
She is CHOOSING not to work!! If I was able to work still, I would be flipping burgers etc to do what I could to survive and feed my son. Some married couples work and still need help which is ok, because they are working. This lady isnt even trying to bring in extra money. She CHOOSES to stay home, she does not have the luxury to home school when she chooses to leech off the government because she can. She is also a huge hypocrite for saying she would vote against them, because it is the not the govts job to take care of her. Well if that is the case, then she needs to get a damn job, send her kids to school and provide for her family herself. All else is her talking out of both sides of her ass and all piss and wind.
By CHOOSING not to work, you are taking the food out of the mouth of those who truly need these programmes. I am on food stamps now because I have health issues that keep me from working, you lady are capable. So of course I am highly offended because it perpetuates the stereotype that all people who need help are leeches. I am awaiting a decision on my disability application because I can no longer work. I give my eye teeth to be able to get up in the mornings and go work a job at McDonalds etc.
Thanks, Yena! We certainly don’t think homeschooling is for everyone, but it works well for our family for now. We really wish our income was higher so we weren’t a burden on anyone else financially, but we won’t be in this situation forever. And we’re grateful to be able to teach our children at home and save taxpayer money at the same time!
You can justify it all you want, but you are CHOOSING Lynn not work. Part of being there for your family is working to provide for them if able. You and your husband are not a couple who are working jobs, but still cannot make it without help. You are not unable to physically work, hence you need help. The latter two I would have no issue with is because you would be trying. I have seen some past posts that you have indicated you are involved with your church which is good, but are you aware the Bible says if you do not work you do not eat!!! If you need govt assistance, than you cannot afford to stay home and bloody homeschool. Why not get a damn job, even if it is on the weekends? You are teaching your kids a bad example. I CANNOT work, but if I could I be out there busting my ass to bring in money to provide for my son. Yet, you are able too, and CHOOSE not too. You are taking resources and taking money away from those who NEED it. That I believe is called stealing. You are a hypocrite when you think that the govt cannot run social programmes effectivly, yet you will use them for your own benefit. Either you see these programmes as useful or you do not. Quit talking out of both sides of your backsides. Tell your husband to take a second job if you insist on being a stay at home mum. I would send my kids to school and get a job myself.
I’m just not sure it’s a black and white issue. I can see the usefulness of such programs, but I also think they can be run better. I think even the greatest supporters of these programs would say that much.
And I think you may have me confused with someone else with many of your comments. My husband and I are both hard workers, and we’re not on these programs most of the time. We get off of them when we can afford to do so, even if we’re still eligible. We intentionally got off of WIC in January 2011, and haven’t been on it since, even though one of our children could still receive benefits for 2 more years. We received SNAP benefits from November 2010 through May 2011, but then we got off of those (intentionally) until October 2012. My husband also just got a raise, so we’ll reassess in a month or two how our income in looking, and most likely cancel SNAP at that time.
We’re not trying to squeeze every penny we can get out of the system. Believe me, these programs are enough of a headache that I’d much rather leave them in the past. But our conviction to home school and be there for our kids trumps our our desire to be financially self-sufficient, and I’m thankful that this will only be a brief season of our lives.
“But our conviction to home school and be there for our kids trumps our our desire to be financially self-sufficient, and I’m thankful that this will only be a brief season of our lives.”
Otherwise, justifying being on assistance rather than trying to bring more income in to provide for YOUR kids. So you expect the taxpayers to foot the bill so that you can fulfill your philosphical idea of childrearing?
@ Stephanie Why do you not see public school as a government program? Why do you not see that were she to send her children to school, she would also be using government resources that are funded by taxpayers? Why is it acceptable to use the government to educate 3 children for years at the cost of over $10K each, but not to use food stamps that would not even approach that dollar value? Why do you think that one program is okay for her to use but not another?
Thanks for writing this blog and being honest about your experiences and opinions, and gracious with those people who do not do you the same courtesy. I’m also politically conservative (probably most closely described as a libertarian) and have been receiving WIC benefits for a few months, despite some personal philosophical struggles with that, which your blog has helped with. I am also now a WIC peer breastfeeding counselor, and it seems you understand how encouraging breastfeeding has economic benefits that go well beyond an individual household.
I think it’s important to point out to the many people commenting about how you should just get a full-time job that it’s not so simple. Who pays for child care? I work part-time (at two jobs) and my husband works full-time, and we maintain schedules that enable us to be the primary caregivers of our four children. If we were to put our children in daycare, we would most certainly need to tap into *other* government programs to pay for it, because our salaries would not cover it. We’d probably even need to sign up for SNAP, because we’d be netting less money overall.
In the meantime, I guess I’ll use all of the free time I have because I choose to suckle the government’s teat instead of working more (at… what jobs?) to build a time machine, so that I can go back in time and make sure I become a millionaire before having children, since that is the other solution put forth by your intrepid commenters. ;)
You’re awesome.
“blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. I’m pretty sure the evil one is showing his face through some of these ugly, ugly comments. Don’t be discouraged. The world hates you because it first hated Him.
Nice job anon quoting Scripture. You should at least put a name on your comment. But the Bible also says if we dont work, we dont eat.
For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.(2 Thessalonian 3:10 kjv)
My husband homeschools our boys and care for our children. And believe me, he works–just as this mother does. Who are we to judge this mother who wants to raise her children within her home?
Nothing wrong with wanting to raise the kids within the home. Many parents will work opposite shifts if need be so they dont have to put their children in daycare. Many people if not most cannot afford NOT to work. It would be nice for mothers to be SAHM, but when you have to provide a roof , clothing and food that comes first. Many children had parents who worked and they turn out just fine. No emotional issues, because they understand as they get older that Mom and Dad love them and work to provide for them. I never put my son in daycare, I either worked opposite shifts of my ex or left him with a relative.
Again you are discounting work within the home. Looking at our culture today, I don’t agree that children who grew up with absentee parenting grew up ” just fine.” And who wants to give their kids “good enough” when you can give them something really good?
One of the reasons that aid programs for families are offered is because the government recognizes or used to at least, that children raised by their moms and dads with, a stay at home parent is of benefit to society!
Well said.
( this was a comment intended for Yena)
Matthew 5:10, to continue the verse, Matthew 5:11-12 says, “Blessed are you when they insult and hate you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. “
Lynn, after wic shopping tonight, I was in my my car praying for Stephanie, I unloaded my groceries and was about to shut the door when I saw a tiny piece of paper stuck in the door frame. I picked it up, read it, this is what it said,”Oh glorious St. Rita, who didst so wonderfully participate in the Sorrowful Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, obtain for me the grace to suffer with resignation the trials of this life, and protect me in all my necessities. Let us pray. Oh God, who in Thy Goodness, didst bestow on St. Rita abundant grace to love all who injured her; to have her heart ever devoted to Jesus Christ, our Savior;and her forehead wounded from thought of His suffering- grant, we beseech Thee, that through her intercession and merits we also may fully pardon our enemies, and be so mindful of Jesus sorrowful unto death that we may merit the reward He has promised to the meek of heart and all who suffer patiently for His sake; Who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.” I believe I was meant to share this with you. I hope it will be helpful. God bless you.
I do not need your prayers nor your pity. Thank you very much.
” oh, don’t do me a kindness!” Yes, Stephanie, you do need our prayers and you will have them. It’s time somebody loves you well. This is how my family can love you. I will do my part and I sincerely hope that one day we will meet in heaven…and I do not call it “pity,” rather ” compassion,” and it’s what I’m called to independent of how you may feel about it.
Children are a blessing from God and we as mothers are called upon first to be helpmeets to our husbands and second as caretakers of our children/home. Lynn does work and she is called upon The Lord to be a wife and mother.
Do you really believe that God wants people to have children they cannot care for? The Bible says if you do not work and you do not eat. It also says that a man who does not provide for his family is worse than an unbeliever. So if you really believe in Biblical prinicpals then Lynn’s husband would work more to make sure he fulfilled that Biblical mandate, not get on govt assistance. They would turn to their church before the govt.
I would like to share something here. Families, as designed by God, have a mother and a father. Mothers traditionally care for the children because they were created with certain attributes to make them better suited for the task. Fathers traditionally are the providers.
Until the late 1960′s this is the way it was in America and most places in the world.
In the 1960′s a certain group of elite decided that there were too many people in the world (a bogus, self-serving made-up claims) and came up with ways to limit population growth. Frederick Jaffee, Vice President at the time of Planned Parenthood and Bernard Berelsen, World Population Council each independently wrote papers on population control. In these papers, which can be easily found through a google search, they detail how they are going to drive people into having less children. The memo includes:
Social Constraints: 1) Restructure Family – postpone or avoid marriage, alter image of ideal family size; 2) Compulsory education of children; 3) Encourage increased homosexuality; 4) Educate for family limitation; 5) Fertility control agents in water supply; 6) Encourage women to work
Economic Deterrents: 1) Modify tax policies – substantial marriage tax, child tax, tax married more than single, remove parents tax exemption, additional taxes on parents with more than 1 or 2 children in school; 2) Reduce/eliminate paid maternity leave or benefits; 3) Reduce/eliminate children’s or family allowances; 4) Bonuses for delayed marriage and greater child-spacing; 5) Pensions for women of 45 with less than N children; 6) Eliminate welfare payments after first 2 children; 7) Chronic depression; 8) Require women to work and provide few child care facilities; 9) Limit/eliminate public-financed medical care, scholarships, housing, loans and subsidies to families with more than N children
Social Controls: 1) Compulsory abortion of out-of-wedlock pregnancies; 2) Compulsory sterilization of all who have two children except for a few who would be allowed three; 3) Confine childbearing to only a limited number of adults; 4) Stock certificate type permits for children; 5) Housing policies – discouragement of private home ownership, stop awarding public housing based on family size; 6) Payments to encourage sterilization; 7) Payments to encourage contraception; 8) Payments to encourage abortion; 9) Abortion and sterilization on demand; 10) Allow certain contraceptives to be distributed non-medically; 11) Improve contraceptive technology; 12) Make contraception truly available and accessible to all; 13) Improve maternal health care, with family planning a core element
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2011/11/372681/#8vYb7JPBDIzJPLl9.99
Stephanie, you have been duped into believing all the vitriolic rhetoric you are spewing, Look deeper sister. You are being manipulated.
The husband is to provide for his family to the best of his ability and that means to work and toil. If you remember after the Fall in the Garden of Eden, that was the punishment on men. Unless a man is disabled or too old to work, then it is his job to provide for his family. Not the government. You can go on about women being a help meet and children being a blessing. Yes children can be a blessing, but they are burdens, not blessings when you cannot provide for them and you keep popping them out like a Pez dispenser. They are a burden on the family with already limited means and they are a burden on taxpayers. I feel sorry for these children who have to pay for the irresponsibility of their parents to use birth control until they are in a better position to provide for them. God helps those who help themselves.
Stephanie, you are really a bitter, angry person. Let’s hold you up to the same standards you hold everyone else up too…there must be something you can do to earn a living…instead of taking SSI, WIC or any other government program! I’m sure if you tried hard enough, you could find a way to pay your own way instead of asking the rest of us tax payers to support you.
Im going to school to get a job I can do. I am ashamed to have to ask for help, if I could work I would not be on any public assistance. So I am doing something to improve my situation, although how many employers are going to give a person like me time off to go to dialysis twice a week? I do freelance writing in my time to bring in income. The only assistance I get is SNAP and that is only because I have a child to feed, not children because I cannot afford anymore. I dont pop out kids like they are Pez dispensers. Am I bitter no, perturbed yes when people who are able to work refuse to and instead take the handouts. Why? Because they make it very difficult for those of us who cannot work to get the help we need without the shame and the crap. Just reinforces the stereotype that ALL of us are just lazy leeches. My medical bills have bankrupted me because I do not qualify for medicaid, my son does thank God. I will not get Medicare unless I am in end stage renal failure which is almost a reality, but I doubt I will be approved for disability for my back and my kidneys. I got WIC when my son was a baby,but not food stamps nor TANF. I worked up until 2010 when my back could no longer take the strain of the job I was doing and in 2011 I was put on dialysis therapy. I soon will most likely have to get on the transplant waiting list. So yes it makes me angry when people who can work just simply refuse too, when those of us that want to work but cant have to be boxed in with them as leeches. As of now I am living off student loans, which I will have to pay back once I graduate. My medical bills have depleted my savings, but thank God I am able to qualify for charity care to cover some of the costs of my dialysis treatment. I cant get Medicaid but some woman on welfare popping out kids can get it all. Yes colour me jaded and pissed off.
Stephanie,
I will continue to pray for you and your family. I pray that you will feel God’s power and control in your life. I pray that you will embrace the life that he has given you and live it to the fullest. I pray that you will allow him to work through you to reach out and love others the way he first loved you. Please do not let the enemy twist your thoughts and harden your heart. Be understanding and compassionate towards your fellow sisters and know that regardless of our unique situations we are all mothers and are all doing the best we can for our families. Let us not quarrel and judge each other because that is what Satan wants from us. Let what we say build up others not tear them down. God is in control of all things.
How can you reference the garden of Eden without remembering the consequence that fell to Eve, pain in CHILDBEARING…you recall that part too, about ,”God created man in His image; male and female he created them. God blessed them, saying: ‘Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it…’…God looked at everything He had made, and He found it very good.”(Genesis 1:27-31)? Why do you still promote contraceptives which are”against” “life”? God likes life and he likes human beings, made us rather special, in His own image. In the religion I practice, if there are grave reasons not to have a child at a given time one may practice natural family planning to avoid pregnancy. One of the major differences is that it does not terminate an existing pregnancy, which in my religion is defined at beginning at the moment of conception, not the moment of implantation. Modern NFP is also more accurate than artificial methods and has none of the negative consequences of contraception on a woman’s body( like increased risk of breast cancer)or on the unborn child (death). The way it works is that it allows you to accurately identify when you ovulate, easily and for free, by observing your body’s symptoms. If you have a good reason for not bringing a child into the world at a given time, you simply abstain a few days before and after ovulation. A woman’s body is not fertile 100% of the time, why should she contracept all the time? Seriously, you should check out “My fertility MD.” If you have the resources to be on this site, you probably have the resources for this $5 app. Sooooo cool! You could also look into the Creighton model of nfp if you wouldn’t have use for an app. All you need for that is a pencil and paper…no money, no pills, no patches, no shots!
Anon I am going to assume you are Catholic. I grew up in a strict Catholic home left the bondage of Catholicism years ago. Are you aware of the story in the Bible of the woman who touches the cloak of Christ who had issues of blood? Well if I didnt take that Pill everyday that would be me.. so no NFP would not work for me I tried it . I need that Pill even if Im celibate ( which I am now) to control my bleeding. The RCC does permit the use of the Pill for that purpose, but Im not bound by the RCC any longer.. thank God. I am on dialysis for a renal failure.. my body cannot handle another pregnancy. So I must be on some sort of birth control to insure that does not happen. I have a 9 year old son to think of and he trumps a fetus anyday.
Im a Protestant(Presbyterian) and my religion does not ban the use of contraception and is officially prochoice. If you dont believe in abortion dont have one. If you dont believe in birth control dont use it. At the same time pay for the children that may come as a result of not using BC. I dont oppose people having 20 kids like the Duggars, they at least pay for their children. I and most people have problems with it if you expect society to support it. If you need help then turn to your church who sees having big families as a gift from God. God gave me my son and I am content with that blessing. Im not going to jeopardize my health and life for another child, when I have one here who already needs me. We need to worry about the children that are already here, not the ones yet to be born.
Lynn,
I have read your blog from time to time, but honestly never bothered with the comments section.
First let me say that my family gets WIC benefits, I am a stay-at-home mom, and I have a BA degree. I personally lost my job when I had my first child. Subsequently we lost our home, but were blessed by God to have relatives to let us live in their unused home. My husband and I choose to have me stay home and raise our now 2 children. We live on one income and I do use coupons to stretch every dollar. But, that in itself is a whole job that takes time away from my family.
Staying home and raising children is a REAL job otherwise there would be no daycares or schools. I applaud you for taking this route even though it is hard. Getting public assistance does not pad ones wallet, but provides the bare minimum. I too feel judgement by others when I shop and use my WIC benefits, but I have also encountered people who have been very kind. One mother, seeing my embarrassment due to her having to wait and a line forming behind us reached out and said, “Everyone here has gotten help from time to time.” Another Dad commented that his family had gotten WIC with their first child, but chose to go without with #2 because of the hassle it brought them everytime they shopped—the comments from others was too much.
I am so sorry to read the rude, heartless, and judgmental comments others have written here. This is what is wrong with our country/society today— we value money over people. I do not agree with how our government runs this country and I did not vote for our current president. I know many Christian families who receive public assistance and homeschool. I’m not sure if that describes your family. But, I do know that abusing the system and educating/caring for your children are very different entities.
It is very late and I do hope I am not rambling, but let me end with the fact that God has a plan for your family and he will put you on he path he wants you to be on. Do not let the world dictate your journey; let The Lord be your guide and look to his Word when you feel the need for defense. God bless you and your lovely family.
I’m so thankful Daisy, that you brought some light into this darkness. Thank you for taking the time to comment, despite the late hour. Thank you for being articulate. Thank God for you.
The reality is that if the tax rate on families were reduced to the 3% it was in the early 60′s instead of the 28-33% now, more families could afford to have a stay at home parent and afford to pay for their own necessities.
The government wants people to be dependent on it!
I see it this way too. If we weren’t so taxed, how many more people could be self-sufficient? How much more money would people be able to save for a rainy day?
That is true, but the key to this is actually working and earning a living. You have too many people who refuse to work, even though they are able bodied. They rather sit on their ass, pop out illegitiment kids, like pez dispensers and live off the govt. I see many posts of my bf or fiance etc etc doesnt make that much. I know accidents happen, but really people.. why not get MARRIED before you have kids. Why not quit sleeping with dead beat losers who refuse to support their kids. That is another pet peeve of mine with some single mothers..the didnt mind sleeping with a deadbeat and then whine when he splits.
Stephanie…the spirit of nastiness prevails. You are invincibly ignorant. But, while things are impossible for man, nothing is impossible for God. I won’t be writing you often anymore, since it is obvious you are determined to hate and my words won’t do you much good but I will pray for you for a long, long, Looooonnnng time. I would encourage you to pray as well. Go see your holy man (or woman), talk with them. This is a good time of year to grow closer to The Lord. Fast, pray, give alms. Repent. Return to God. Wishing you the best, bye.
Good bye to you too Anon. Alot of these situations and unplanned pregnancies are PREVENTABLE. Birth control and being selective about whom one sleeps with. Women choose to sleep with dead beat losers, who refuse to work, dont support the children they have and then are surprised why they leave them high and dry. I feel sorry for the children who have to pay for the poor choices of their parents. Barring rape, nobody forces a person to have sex.. failure to plan on their part does not constitute an emergency on mine. So if you make one mistake and need assistance.. I am more than willing to help, provided you help yourself. If you have another while on assistance.. then I write you off as hopeless and irresponsible. As they say if you can feed them dont breed them.
“Except for the grace of God, there go I” (John Bradford about a condemned sinner); “let he who is without sin cast the first stone” (you know who, John 8:7).
So wait… You are receiving public assistance (and have done so more than once becuase you see the benefit for your family, but you also believ you are a special case and would vote against the program to disable any other families like yours or otherwise from receiving its benefits. Do you not see the inherent hipocracy in this? My spider sense is telling me that you SAY you would vote against such programs in order to please your very vocal right wing readers, but in reality your need to survive would clearly take presidence. Nobody should be judging you and telling you how to run or best care for your family. But in the same vein, you should also not be sitting in judgement of others by withdrawing your support of programs you yourself use! I applaud your actions to help your family survive and thrive, but I question your honesty and maturity.
I’ve been consistently voting Libertarian when that option is available to me, which would scale back not only assistance programs but all kinds of government spending. The government has simply grown far too large, having its hands in far too much our lives. I don’t feel at all hypocritical for utilizing the programs available to me, though, just as people should not feel hypocritical for sending their kids to public school (also funded by tax dollars). Just because I utilize something doesn’t mean I think it’s run perfectly.
You said you would vote against such programmes if given the chance. If that is the case then clearly you would have the courage of your conviction and not use them. I am all for reform and feel that these programmes should be a course of last resort, but either you think they are needed but need reform or you think they should be abolished. So why would you vote against a programme you use? Amber is right in pointing out the hypocrisy in that statement.
I don’t see it as hypocritical at all, but rather a rational approach to the imperfect reality we find ourselves in.
I don’t like that the government spends so much on entitlement programs because I generally don’t feel it is the government’s role to provide for so many facets of a person’s life, nor do I feel that the government (esp. federal) is efficient at it, confiscating money through taxes from the citizenry and redistributing it through cumbersome bureaucratic schemes.
That doesn’t mean I don’t believe in helping people. Many people seem to forget that help can come in forms other than from government programs. And in the past, people relied more on these non-government forms of help.
Today we are in a situation where the economy is bad yet taxes are high. The middle class is being wiped out.
I see taking advantage of programs one qualifies for while simultaneously voting to shrink the size and scope of government as a way to recoup some of the taxes one has paid into our current imperfect system while still working to reform said system.
We are compelled by force to pay taxes to fund these programs, whether we are able to personally benefit from them or not. If someone qualifies for the benefits, I can’t fault them for trying to get some of their own tax money’s value back, especially if they don’t vote to keep increasing the entitlements at the expense of society, but rather vote to reform the system.
We need to vote for reforms and overhaul. I am not against assistance programmes for those who truly need them. People who are trying to better themselves, the elderly and disabled should IMHO get first priority. Being able to procreate does not entitle one to any aid from the taxpayer. It is sad that a single person who cannot make it on what they earn is often denied help, but some welfare mom who is lazy get’s it all because she was able to procreate. Is there not something wrong with that equation? If you are on GA you have no business having more children to be supported by the taxpayers.