No Hand-Outs

Fellow Americans,

According to www.usdebtclock.org, of the nearly 325 million people living in America, over 163 million are receiving some type of federal assistance! Do all these people really need help? The entire welfare program is out of control and should be re-worked for the following reasons:

· It’s too expensive—welfare programs cost American taxpayers trillions of dollars annually due to inefficiency, overlapping programs, fraud, and abuse!

· It’s too extravagant—when people on welfare are eating steak and lobster at taxpayer expense, something’s wrong!

· It’s too easy—welfare is too easy to obtain with too little oversight. How many people are cheating the system? How many people on welfare are also on drugs?

· It rewards laziness—it actually disables people because it provides too much help for too little effort. It discourages independence, hard work, and honest living!

There were no food stamps or lavish welfare programs in America in the 1700s. Back then, people relied on themselves for what they needed. During emergencies, people turned to their families, churches, and communities for temporary assistance. Being on “welfare” back then was embarrassing and usually short-lived. Today it seems to be a way of life for some people.

Benjamin Franklin recognized the dangers of doing too much, stating, “I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.” Franklin knew the more you do for people, the less they do for themselves, thus becoming spoiled and lazy! Sound familiar?

It is time to become more self-reliant. We must all plan ahead and work hard for our own futures. We must come together as Americans, leaning on our families, churches, and communities; seeking government aid as a last resort. Able-bodied people who refuse to work should sleep in the bed they made for themselves. Let’s give a hand up, not a hand-out! May God bless you and the United States of America!

Dan Landi

Kidder, MO