Trump releases budget seeking billions for border wall, work requirements for welfare programs

[Nature Boy 2.0 8,378]

7 minutes ago, arken said:

Adding all forms of assistance received in the name of welfare, it could well be more than the annual income from a full time job at minimum wage. So why would people be interested in looking for job unless there is some requirement?

 

https://www.cheatsheet.com/culture/states-welfare-recipients-paid-more-minimum-wage.html/

When I was an operations manager I had more than 1 walk out they door, and tell me "This is BS I am going back on the system"

[millefleur 5,047]

The Section 8 housing waiting list here is 2-3 years minimum. It's a terrible system because it rewards passivity...basically, wait around with a low income until your name comes up on the list. I would start with getting rid of this first or finding a way to make it actually reward people or motivate them to do better.

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

3 hours ago, millefleur said:

So are there any welfare programs where people actually just collect cash forever from the US government?

 

Food stamps are for food only (I mean you could use it to buy food, and resell it for cash...I'm sure some people do this), there's TANF (temporary assistance for needy families) but this is limited to a maximum of 2 consecutive years and 5 year lifetime limit...plus I believe it has a work requirement as well. There's ERDC (employment related day care) which also obviously has a work requirement, as it's for working parents who need help paying for child care and the money goes directly to the child care provider, not to the parent. WIC is limited only for pregnant women/children and it pays for food/nutrition.

 

The only things I can think of that are unlimited and last forever are SSD and Section 8/housing vouchers. Also there's Medicaid but again..that's not "collecting welfare" in the sense that someone is just taking a check of cash from the government....the money is paid to the landlord in the case of Section 8, money is paid directly to hopsitals and doctors in the case of Medicaid. SSD is really the only case I can think of where someone just gets a regular check directly to them from the government....there's the "earned income tax credit" but again, that's for working folks and it's a one time only payment after filing taxes.

 

https://www.thebalance.com/welfare-programs-definition-and-list-3305759

 

Just curious which welfare program should go first according to the folks on CEHST? I agree that many programs need major reforms but it makes more sense to talk about the specifics rather than the nebulous "welfare" problem.

It’s called EBT now.  And yes, people sell their cards for cash.  I’ve had more than one person try to sell me thier cards outside a store for 50% of face value, so they could use the cash to buy alcohol and drugs (yes, the people were actually straight forward about it when I asked why they were trying to sell them).

 

As for SSD, assuming you mean SSDI...  one has to have worked a certain amount of years before getting the disability money, and it only continues as long as one is disabled, or until age 65.

Edited March 12, 2019 by ALFKAD

[millefleur 5,047]

2 minutes ago, ALFKAD said:

It’s called EBT now.  And yes, people sell their cards for cash.  I’ve had more than one person try to sell me thier cards outside a store for 50% of face value, so they could use the cash to buy alcohol and drugs (yes, the people were actually straight forward about it when I asked why they were trying to sell them).

 

As for SSD, assuming you mean SSDI...  one has to have worked a certain amount of years before getting the disability money, and it only continues as long as one is disabled, or until age 65.

Yes, SSDI is what I was referring to. Thanks. Oh yeah, I totally think people sell EBT cards..it's a huge problem.

 

However, honestly before I looked into it, I assumed there were more welfare programs than there actually are here in the US. We're certainly miles ahead of Western Europe in that sense. Which always baffles me as to why so many refugees want to come here....in Europe you can get free apartments and many other benefits, what will they get here? Barely anything comparatively.

 

I've heard that there's a lot of ignorance that refugees assume they can show up here and get everything for free, and that has never been the case, not even under Obama. There are a lot of misconceptions out there that probably lead people to risk their lives trying to come here only to realize it isn't what they thought it would be.

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

4 hours ago, millefleur said:

However, honestly before I looked into it, I assumed there were more welfare programs than there actually are here in the US. We're certainly miles ahead of Western Europe in that sense. Which always baffles me as to why so many refugees want to come here....in Europe you can get free apartments and many other benefits, what will they get here? Barely anything comparatively.

I saw a story yesterday on the WSJ about how a woman was in China trying to help them lure in more talent in to that country. It goes into more detail below. But what's messed up is that a fair amount of these so called asylum seekers are told a pack of lies about how they can come here to the USA, get welcomed with open arms, and and be given a job and a place to stay. I really think that the US should file a lawsuit against these open borders amnesty groups for facilitating the passage of these groups. 

 

Many European countries just import workers,” Ms. Kaushal tells me in an interview at her office. “They balk at making a long-term commitment to people. America, by contrast, offers immigrants a variety of legal ways in which to come to the country and live permanently.” The legacy of immigration has given rise to “a different ethos in America. The country wants people to come here and be part of the American story. Immigration leads to citizenship.”

She wasn’t always such an enthusiast, and what brought her around was a 2013 meeting with an official delegation from communist China, which she recounts in her book, “Blaming Immigrants: Nationalism and the Economics of Global Movement.” Imagine the scene: Two dozen Chinese officials crowd around a slightly built and self-effacing Indian woman in a university seminar room. They are eager to learn how America handles immigration and, relatedly, to find remedies for China’s scarcity of talent. The group grows visibly impatient as Ms. Kaushal starts to describe some of the American system’s flaws, such as the vast backlog in issuing green cards—currently 5.5 million—and the glacial pace of processing asylum applications.

After a few minutes, the group’s leader interrupts “in an exasperated voice and asks this: ‘If you think there are so many problems with the U.S. immigration system, why is it that the U.S. is more successful than any other country in attracting talented foreign workers?’ ” That forthright Chinese question led her to reconsider her assumptions and embark on the research that led to her book.

The Chinese were right, she says, to focus on the strengths of America’s immigration policy. She points out that the U.S. “receives a fifth of the world’s new immigrants every year, more than the next five immigrant destinations put together”—Germany, the U.K., Canada, France and Australia.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/americas-great-immigration-system-11552086008

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

5 hours ago, millefleur said:

Yes, SSDI is what I was referring to. Thanks. Oh yeah, I totally think people sell EBT cards..it's a huge problem.

 

However, honestly before I looked into it, I assumed there were more welfare programs than there actually are here in the US. We're certainly miles ahead of Western Europe in that sense. Which always baffles me as to why so many refugees want to come here....in Europe you can get free apartments and many other benefits, what will they get here? Barely anything comparatively.

 

I've heard that there's a lot of ignorance that refugees assume they can show up here and get everything for free, and that has never been the case, not even under Obama. There are a lot of misconceptions out there that probably lead people to risk their lives trying to come here only to realize it isn't what they thought it would be.

True.  When Americans travel to many third world countries, they are looked at either with amazement (people assume we are all rich, even if we can barely afford out vacations, because THEY could never afford to fly outside their own countries), or looked at as targets (because they want to steal our riches).  When Trump called some of these places $h!hole countries, he wasn’t being mean.  Many of them are just that.  Want to see if for yourself?  Visit the Dominican Republic.  Santiago, Santo Domingo, then Punta Cana.  Next, journey across the border into Haiti.  It’s like a war zone.  As in jaw-dropping difference.

 

So to people from places like that, America (Americans) seems to be richness beyond belief.  Just the idea of stepping foot in our country makes some people think they will have all they need.  And yes, the propagation of lies and misinformation only fuels these fires, and makes people risk their very lives to get here... only to be turned away, or sorely disappointed when they arrive, to discover not much is free, and they cannot afford to live here.  It’s a sad, never-ending cycle that could be slowed or stopped with better immigration control and a border that wasn’t as porous as a screen door.

[TBoneTX 46,015]

9 hours ago, millefleur said:

refugees assume they can show up here and get everything for free, and that has never been the case, not even under Obama.

Not a refugee, but a native-born female, was interviewed on the street right when 0bummer was first elected, and said, "He gonna pay my rent, he gonna buy my gas..."