How would you end welfare programs?

Question

How would you end welfare programs?

Answer 1

As w/ anything, give a 2 week warning.

Haha, I'm kidding (sort of) I think a 2 year warning would be good. As of January 10 2010 there will be no more welfare.

Answer 2

I would start by making  the able-bodied ones work for it because there are  a lot of them that are just lazy.  Also they should have their voting rights taken away until they get off welfare.  Because it is obvious they are just going to vote for whoever is going to give them more money and free handouts.  That's just a start

Answer 3

You really can't. People are conditioned to have kids with no job and no father simply because they are guranteed the money. What do you do, let them starve? Good luck with that.

Answer 4

Force all applicants to do hard physical labor, such as lifting heavy rocks, for 60 hours a week.  

Answer 5

That would be difficult.  Most of the elderly in nursing homes are on medicaid and need the welfare.  After indigents have to pay 300$ delinquent traffic fines or mandatory auto insurance, they go on food stamps. (http://www.foodstampstudy.com)

I think indigents should be given community service instead of multi hundred dollar fines.

Answer 6

there should be a time limit.

When a child is 2 years old, mom has to go to work, she should be going to school in those two years. and if she gets pregnant again she should not get welfare.

SIS is totally different from Welfare. Disable people collect from Social Security not welfare.

Answer 7

Begin by setting time limits one can be eligible for benefits.  By time limits I mean a relatively short period of time (6 months to a year).  Start following the New Orleans example of demolishing housing projects and force people to transition into PRODUCTIVE members of society.

These are very general ideas and by no means have I thought the details through.  Bottom line-welfare is meant to be a temporary solution to get through rough times.  Unfortunately it has become a way of life for too many people and the government and tax payers cannot keep up with the continuing demand for hand outs to the poor/lazy.

Answer 8

There will always be a need for a welfare system to take care of those who can't take care of themselves due to health, age or other problems that are legit. However, those that bilk the system can be made to support the system by working in areas  supplied by the govt like the old CCC or WPA work camps. If the govt has to hand out money etc then those that receive it should be made to earn it. That would cut out a lot of welfare. Prosecute the thieves with mandatory and lengthy  prison sentences in ernest..  

Answer 9

I find the answers to this question very disturbing because they rely on false stereotypes about welfare.  There is a welfare stereotype that those on welfare are lazy.  The truth is that most of the people on welfare are hardworking, and many have more than one job.  Welfare checks are simply not that big that most the people on welfare are having babies for paychecks (this is also an inaccurate stereotype).  While individuals have abused the system, most do not.  At this time of economic downturn, alot of people receiving assistance are hard-working individuals that were laid off (closing GM plants, etc).  

That being said, if you really want to eliminate welfare then eliminate the need for welfare.  Income inequality in America is growing at an alarming rate (the rich are getting richer the poorer are getting poorer).  End the cycle of poverty by improving education in poverty riddled neighborhoods.  Raise minimum wage (which does not actually pay a living wage for most families).  Make a college education more accessible by lowering the cost.  There are many ways to address the issue in America, but it will never get rid of the need for welfare programs.  Many good people are on them due to no fault of their own.  

Answer 10

I would eliminate Welfare by going after the biggest recipients in America: Corporate America. Those poor women whose husbands are absentee, or single fathers struggling to raise their children and are layed off would continue to have a safety net. Career welfare individuals would have time limits assigned to their cases.  

Answer 11

No welfare to any single mother under 18.

Limit welfare ot one child unless you worked for years and then became disable.

Woman must report the father name so he can be held responsible.

No food stamps or cards for food, but local warehouses that will give them basic food to live on.(No soda,candy,potato chips, etc.)

If any family member in a household is caught sell illegal drugs, the whole family will lose their benefits.

Start a better trade school in HS for the ones that can not learn higher education.

Answer 12

Hope you never need help in life, and your kids love you enough to let you live with them when you're old. But welfare and government programs are absolutely essential to any democracy. You don't want all the "poor" people getting desperate and robbing your rich a** when they can't find money to feed their kids. Besides public assistance  programs work great in Europe, and no one abuses it. US just needs a major welfare reform....  And a major dose of education.

Answer 13

kick the crack heads off the programs.

Answer 14

welfare is good within limitations. there are those who abuse the system, and we should not be increasing allowances, but for those who need it, welfare can be a life saver. We just have to remember this is not a program set up to care for people long term, make sure recipients are gaining knowledge to become gainfully employed.  

Answer 15

I think the appropriate question is "How would you end poverty".

If you could do that we wouldn't need welfare programs.

But, curiously, you have brought up an interesting point. By your question, I can tell you are a conservative. It seems that conservatives and liberals see the same problem but ask very different questions.

Answer 16

well this is a tough question because unless you have free college education that way people can get into high paying jobs there isn't much you can do to end welfare.  The welfare systems was designed to help struggling families out there who are having a hard time making ends meet...don't get me wrong i know there are a lot of people who abuse the system. but what do we do w/ the families whose husband was just laid off from work after 15 years and that's the only job skill he has.  If we put an end to the welfare system all together than we will have some skyrocketing homeless families.  

Answer 17

I wouldn't end them.  There are people who genuinely need it.  It's the other 85% that need to get their lazy asses off the couch and breeding rooms to find a job and make a contribution to society.

Answer 18

There are people who legit need the programs to survive. If the govt would help people on them instead of punishing them, it would end some of it.  There should be financial aid available just for those on welfare who want to go to school and better themselves. A person who tries to go to college and gets a full pell grant, still has to come up with at minumum $30,000 a year (community college) and then will only get an associates degree which is almost impossible to get a job with unless you go into the healthcare field. When a person on welfare tries to work, the govt punishes them. For every $10.00 I make, I actually only earn about $1.00 by the time they cut my food stamps,  raise my rent, and I pay for fuel.that's before taxes. IF I make too much, then I lose medical assistance and I have to come up with money to pay for my medicine which is $2000 a month plus doctor bills of $1500 month.The govt. needs to go thru EVERYONE (including me) record and verify they need help which would get rid of the abusers and the illegals.. which would help the situation a lot.

Answer 19

Several of the answers mentioned Social Security, which is not a welfare or entitlement program.  SS is funded by the amount taken out of paychecks and matched by employers as is medicare.

That being said the welfare system is out of control and has been since the days of Johnson and his "Great Society".  The system not only is corupt and the administrative costs extreme, it tends to make each generation become a new welfare state.  It needs to be ended 100% and a system put into place that gives families and children who are disadvantaged, not lazy a chance for a hand up that will help them.  The people who truly want to get help are ashamed to be on welfare and will do anything to get off it.  The people who have another baby to get more money, don't seek employment, etc. do not deserve government assistant.  The children should be removed from them and placed in a foster home for adoption.  Many of these 'mothers' are drug users who utilize all the assistance for their habit.  I have watched them sell their food stamps for a discount so they can get cash.  The system is broken and can't be fixed, it's time to scrap it come up with a new sysem.

Answer 20

cold turkey and make the lazy b******s get jobs.

Answer 21

I wouldn't.  I have a severely disabled aunt and couldn't fathom her life without SSI.  

Answer 22

Slowly phase it out over the next 15-25 years.  We do not need government in our life for these purposes.

Do you think people on welfare are mostly quadraplegic war veterans?  Think again, they are mostly able bodied men and women who are making bad choices, have made bad choices, etc.

Go into a store around the first of any month and watch the people on welfare with new sneakers and cell phones buying candy with their electronics food stamp card.

Meanwhile, they're complaining about their entry level salary, while having a lazy work ethic, missing lots of days and not doing what they're asked and subsequently, they don't move up in position.

Nah, I say welfare is 95% abuse. And for the other 5%:  family, friends and charity should take care of them.

Answer 23

I would just cut them out, and I would demand those who are on government assistance to get jobs like everyone else!!!    Come one the assistance we give cripples people to stay losers for life!!!! Or I think we castrate people!!!