Brother, can you spare a living?

I got around to reading Brian Huycke's column about welfare in the Freep. It confused me a little bit. He starts off, all sympathetic, explaining that not all welfare recipients are lazy: "I am here to tell you that there are actually a small group of people who really need welfare." Then he finishes with: "We should have never started up the soul-destroying system." Huh? What about those people who really need it?

Worse, now that the "soul-destroying system" is in place, there is nothing that we can do about it: "The best the government can do is APPEAR to be doing something." What kind of an attitude is that? "oh well .. I guess we have to let these souls get destroyed. Too bad for them. I wonder if Dexter is on TV tonight?"

I agree that not all welfare recipients are lazy. I agree that the system is broken. I disagree that nothing can be done about it. The current system is set up such that any income earned by a welfare recipient is clawed back from their welfare payments. This why welfare is a "trap". There is a tremendous disincentive to getting off welfare because one would have to work many hours to earn even one extra dollar. Welfare recipients are also punished for saving money, making them more dependent on monthly payments. In other words, the current system encourages recipients to either cheat, or be lazy. Those are the two choices.

A policy change is needed to allow welfare recipients to keep a portion of their earnings if they choose to work, until they reach a certain income level at which point welfare payments would cease. The change should also allow recipients to build up some savings for emergencies or personal financial security. This will encourage more people to enter the workforce, save money, and eventually get off the dole. The government CAN do something to fix the system, so that maybe a few less souls will get destroyed. I suspect the political will to tackle this issue is missing though, because of a fear of public scorn from tampering with our sacred social safety net.