What About the WORKING Man???

I am so frustrated and ticked off at our society right now. I think that people are abusing public assistance and I fear that our government is making is easier and easier by the second for people to not work. We just keep giving lazy, capable people handouts. I do want to preface my thoughts, however, by saying that I feel that sometimes unemployment and public assistance programs are necessary. There are many, many hard-working Americans who are in desperate need of such programs due to layoffs and other issues related to our poor economy. I commend them because I know that they most likely have their pride hurt when they have to utilize our government's resources.

We live in a very, very impoverished area. Sure, there are nice parts, but the heart of the town is filled with disheveled, filthy homes, dirty kids, and so on. Really, that's just the tip of the iceberg to describe the condition of this town. If you drive through the town on any given afternoon, you see these people sitting out on their porches doing nothing. I know, from experience, that if you ask some of them where they work they say, "Oh, I can't find a job." Funny, if my family was hungry and in need of clothing and shelter, I would have a job at McDonald's or wherever by tomorrow. I guarantee it.

The good news is that New York State is giving each of these families $200 PER CHILD for back to school assistance. (Click here to read the article for yourself.) If your child is between the ages of 3 and 17, even if they are not IN SCHOOl, rest assured, you will have a nice check coming to you. There's a catch though...You must be on Welfare to be able to have this program. Otherwise, you don't qualify for it.

So, basically, the crux of it is that if you are hard-working individual that busts your butt to provide for your family, you will NOT receive any stimulus to help you with your children's school expenses. Instead, you will just have to scrimp and scrape and save and budget wisely to take care of your child. OR, you can work and do absolutely NOTHING and the government will give you a nice reward by sending an oh so generous check. OUTRAGEOUS.

I wouldn't be necessarily adverse to seeing the above families receive vouchers to purchase school supplies that are ONLY good for certain items. A NYS republican asked for that the be given to these people instead of cash money, but no, our government has decided (and I quote from an actual democrat) "That's one of the biggest problems with America, ...we don't trust anybody. We don't trust each other at all." Okay, so this is a fine time to start trusting people.. When OUR money that WE'VE earned is being spent for people to NOT WORK. I'm so thankful that we are learning to have faith in the fellow man at such a time as this. I know I'll sleep better tonight.

I just don't understand when our society is going to start teaching people that "If a man doesn't work, he doesn't eat" adage. Its a Biblical principle that our nation seemingly scoffs at. The Bible intended for the church to take care of their communities... Which meant that when people encountered tumultuous times, such as injury, unemployment, or being laid off, they were supposed to lean on their church for help. However, the government has taken the ball and started running and it seems like we'll never be able to catch up.

Another thing that I would like to know is when will we teach, "Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach him to fish, he'll eat forever." When, oh when, are we going to teach these people to FISH instead of just handing them fish after fish after fish that WE caught??? Maybe if we invested our tax dollars into trade programs or educational assistance then people would once and for all learn to fish.

So, Mr. Obama, thank you for your wonderful stimulus package and bail out plans that do absolutely NOTHING for people such as my family and me. Thank you that my taxes are going up but my benefits are staying the same, or worse, decreasing. Don't worry, though, my husband will continue to work hard because there are many individuals who depend on his salary to keep their own boats afloat.