"How Democrats Milk
America's Safety Net"
from "In Defense of Rural
America"
By Ron
Ewart, President
National Association of Rural
Landowners (www.narlo.org)
and
nationally recognized author and speaker on freedom and property rights
issues for over 10 years
© Copyright Sunday, October
4, 2015 - All Rights Reserved
The following article
was published on Newswithviews, September 30, 2015
This article is also
available on our website at:
NOTE: If you are a
Democrat, you may find it hard to swallow our assessment of how Democrat's have
milked America's safety net. However, it is undeniable that Democrats have
benefited greatly at the polls, over many decades, for being the ones that have
promoted and supported America's grossly inefficient and corrupt
entitlement programs that have made America weaker financially, economically,
morally and personally.
Just recently we received the State Audit Report
on the Workforce Development System for the State of Washington. Reading it
makes one to want to stomp on it, set fire to it, pour acid on it and go get the
guys and gals that dream up such worthless, money sucking nonsense. The annual
budget for this state program (remember this is just a program for one
state) is over $1.1 Billion, a good portion of which comes from the federal
public treasury and the rest of it is paid for by state taxpayers.
In the executive summary, the report
states:
"The workforce development system in
Washington is a complex network of 55 programs and multiple service providers,
serving hundreds of thousands of job seekers and employers at a cost of more
than $1 billion a year in federal and state funds. The system is complex because
it serves a wide variety of people with vastly differing circumstances. It takes
a coordinated effort among many program partners – at state agencies, school
districts, community and technical colleges, local Workforce Development
Councils, and community-based organizations – to develop a skilled workforce
able to meet the diverse demands of business and industry in
Washington."
"To succeed, the system must
effectively prepare individuals for the job market, by offering training for
occupations in demand, and job preparation and support services to help
individuals succeed. The system must be sufficiently flexible and comprehensive
to accommodate the varying needs of participants and employers. Effective
coordination of service delivery is essential to success, as is employer
engagement, particularly at the local level."
"Our review of the existing system
found duplication, fragmentation and overlap of services that are largely
justifiable. We also identified risks associated with program coordination and
service delivery that may call for further analysis."
Yes, on the surface, it sounds so
noble and worthy. But from the report, evidently duplication, fragmentation and
overlap of service is justifiable and OK. Of course it is OK because every
government program, federal, state, or local, has duplication, fragmentation and
overlap of services. Oh, and their program coordination and service delivery
require further analysis. Are you kidding? Only government can get
away with this insanity!
Now take this duplication, fragmentation, overlap
of services, lack of program coordination and service delivery problems and
apply it to every government program anywhere in America. Then think about what
it costs for this gross inefficiency and gross negligence, if not outright
corruption.
And then there is this. Where is the cost/benefit
analysis for this Workforce Development System? How many employees are in the
"system"? How many people are getting jobs and how many employees and job
seekers are "milking" the system for all its worth? The audit report doesn't
say. Since most government programs are a deep cesspool of waste, fraud, abuse
and corruption, the cost versus the benefits for the program are in all
likelihood, in the toilet. Democrats never consider costs, only buying
votes.
But please note the word "complexity" in the
Executive Summary. Complexity is a direct government translation for over paid
employees, huge administrative cost overruns, gross inefficiency and a gush of
tax dollars to support the whole permanent and perpetual full government
employment scheme ….. for Democrats. (Who do you think gets
these government jobs?)
The question is, are there that many people out
there that are so weak and uneducated (or non-citizens) that the big
benevolent government, using your tax dollars, has to step in and lift them up?
It goes against every principle of unalienable rights, self-reliance,
independence and individual responsibility that used to be the foundation of
this once free Constitutional Republic, not to mention the U. S. Constitution.
Ladies and gentlemen, a huge welfare system is the
precursor to a government with absolute power ….. the power to take from you by
force and give to others for their votes.
As we said, this is just a report from one
Workforce Development System for one state. Now multiply this one state by 50
and all of a sudden you are talking real money.
But it doesn't end at state workforce development.
The federal government provides over 80 means-tested welfare programs.
"In FY 2011, federal spending on
means-tested welfare, plus state contributions to federal programs, reached $927
billion per year. The federal share came to $717 billion or 77 percent; state
spending was $210 billion or 23 percent."
From one reliable source we learned that:
"the federal government devotes roughly one-sixth of its spending to 10
major means-tested programs and tax credits, which provide cash payments or
assistance in obtaining health care, food, housing, or education to people with
relatively low income or few assets. Those programs and credits consist of the
following:"
* Medicaid,
* The low-income subsidy (LIS) for
Part D of Medicare (the part of Medicare that provides prescription drug
benefits),
* The refundable portion of the
earned income tax credit (EITC),
* The refundable portion of the
child tax credit (CTC),
* Supplemental Security Income
(SSI),
* Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF),
* The Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called the Food Stamp program),
* Child nutrition programs,
* Housing assistance programs, and
* The Federal Pell Grant
Program.
Don't think for one minute that these programs
aren't available to people who aren't American citizens because there are
several programs in the Washington State "system" that provides for people who
can't speak English.
This theft of trillions of taxpayer dollars from
the public treasury (over $22 Trillion since President Johnson's Great
Society) to low-income and illegal aliens is not an accident and it has been
growing by leaps and bounds over the last 40 to 60 years when the Democrats
learned they could buy votes with taxpayer dollars. Actually, they learned it
under FDR when he came along and started providing subsidies to just about
everyone, with New Deal programs, Social Security and subsidies for farmers. No
wonder so many people still think he was a hero.
Farm subsidies are over 80 years old now. These
fraud-prone and corrupt federal farm subsidy programs have been and still are
being abused by mega farm companies and everyone in between. In just one state
alone, farmers bilked the federal government out of more than $100 million in a
decade. People who don't even own farms and live in a city apartment are making
applications for and receiving the $40,000 maximum grant. Many of those getting
the grants are from urban ethnic precincts because of a bogus discrimination U.
S. Supreme Court decision in Pigford v USDA.
As further evidence of Democrat collusion for
votes, the Obama Administration is directing the Immigration and Naturalization
Service to promote and expedite legal Latinos to become citizens of the U. S. so
that they can vote in 2016. This is an overt attempt by the Administration to
add voters to the Democrat side because they know that Latinos will vote
Democrat by large majorities. In the New York Times article about this,
"The officials insisted that the effort was non-partisan."
And if you believe that, well …..
(See: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/
Again, as we have said, none of this happens by
accident. This is why Democrats resist closing the borders and why they are all
for amnesty for illegal aliens. This is why they propose and pass government
programs to benefit specific constituency groups ….. for votes. Every recipient
of free welfare, health care, education, unemployment, job placement, rent,
transportation, cell phones and TV is a vote for a Democrat. They won't bite the
hand that feeds them?
But what is even worse is the weakening of the
American human fiber. People who are dependent on others do not feel whole,
because the fundamental human trait is to be self-sufficient and independent.
Many dependent people become listless, mediocre and self-loathing. They lack
purpose and self-worth. These people not only become a drag on society, many
become a menace to society and each other. Dependent people, living in inner
cities, are hotbeds of unrest and self-loathing. Highly dependent inner cities
are where most of the crime occurs.
In this group of dependent people, we do not
include those who truly are in need of help and a generous society is eager to
see that they get that help. But an adult man or woman who has both arms and
legs and a fully functioning brain with a high school education should not need
or require help. If there are too many of these people, then society and
government have failed them and have imperiled all of our
liberties.
Unfortunately, because of this milking of the
safety net by the Democrats, the Republicans will continue to lose ground to the
plurality of votes bought off by Democrat-sponsored programs and we will
eventually arrive at an Absolute Democrat Monarchy, if we aren't there already.
In fact, right now, the Republicans in the House
and Senate are gearing up for a budget battle with the Democrats. The Democrats
have vowed to stop any attempts to reduce spending for entitlements because
entitlements are where 90% of the Democrat votes exist. But it is run-away
entitlements that have broken the back of America, sucked the spirit of her
people dry and made America weak.
Ladies and gentlemen, a string, a wire, a chain,
or a country are only as strong as their weakest link. The more people become
dependent on government, the weaker the country becomes and the stronger the
government becomes. We were stronger as a nation when the people were stronger,
self-reliant and independent. Unfortunately, because the Democrat party is
obsessed with staying in perpetual power by buying votes with our money, our
nation grows weaker by the day. It is left up to the self-reliant and
independent to stop the avalanche of bought-off voters. The question is, can it
be done peacefully?
Yes, Boehner is quitting, the Pope has spoken
and everyone is looking for a Messiah to save us from our selves. But the fact
is, we the people have to save us from our selves. One man can't do it. It's
going to take millions of us if we hope to reverse the course of 100 years of
Progressivism. At this point, there is some doubt that it can even be done.
Scientists will tell you that with current technology it is impossible to stop a
Democrat avalanche with so many people dependent on a government that the
Democrats have created by bribing the American people with their own money for
votes.
Some believe Trump is the answer and maybe he
is, but we caution pinning your hopes of restoration of the Republic on just one
man. Nevertheless, if you would like to learn more about the real Donald Trump
from a neutral perspective, we encourage you to click HERE. This Trump website is provided as a public service by the National Association of Rural
Landowners, (NARLO), an
advocate for the American urban and rural landowner and an unwavering patriot
for freedom and liberty.
- - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ron Ewart, a nationally known author and
speaker on freedom and property rights issues and author of this weekly column,
"In Defense of Rural America", is the president of the National
Association of Rural Landowners (NARLO) (http://www.narlo.org) an advocate and consultant for urban and rural landowners and a
non-profit corporation headquartered in Washington State. He can be
reached for comment at: info@narlo.org.
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