Sun editorial:

Who needs welfare?

State’s reaction to the budget crunch would hurt people when they most need the help

Tuesday, April 8, 2008 | 2:06 a.m.

To meet projected budget cuts, state officials are considering a major reduction in welfare benefits and food stamps for the poor.

As Timothy Pratt reported in Sunday’s Las Vegas Sun, the possible reductions come in reaction to the economic downturn. As the economy stumbles, more people are seeking welfare benefits. There has been a 25 percent increase in welfare caseloads over the past year and a 15 percent increase in food stamp caseloads.

At the same time, both the state and federal governments are cutting back as tax revenues slump, which is putting a squeeze on welfare budgets.

Officials say they want to make sure help is offered to those who “are genuinely seeking to become self-sufficient,” which is the right goal. Unfortunately, though, the reality seems to be that the state simply wants to pare down the welfare rolls.

For example, one of the ideas being floated is to reduce or revoke assistance to people who have children after they start receiving welfare.

In addition, officials are considering cutting aid to families that don’t fulfill “personal responsibility plans.” For instance, an entire family could be stripped of its benefits if the head of household doesn’t look for a job. Now, only the head of household loses benefits and the rest of the family retains its assistance.

If the philosophy of the system is really to move people toward self-sufficiency, this is not the way to do it.

With the economy faltering, the state should be doing all it can to help people get back on their feet. Cutting more people off from aid in a faltering economy will only exacerbate the problem and deepen the cycle of poverty. Considering the terrible effects of poverty on our community, these plans spell trouble not just for the aid recipients but for us all.

Discussion: 5 comments so far…

By gypsy

4/8/08 at 3:38 a.m.

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Vegas with all it's wealth in the casinos--should be ashamed of the low education level, the lack of social services, lack of facilities for the care of mentally ill. So what does Vegas propose--A CUT IN THE WELFARE FOR CHILDREN. I don't believe in welfare-I believe the welfare system should be used as a bridge to improve lives--but with lack of education--it's a vicious circle
By HelenWeils

4/8/08 at 10:47 a.m.

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Cut them 100%. We don't need free loaders on the dole. We also don't need to pay for illegal immigrants.
By Johnathan_Abbinett

4/8/08 at 11:21 a.m.

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It all comes down to one question: Either we as a society do sincerely believe that we should be "Our brothers and sisters keepers" or we don't! No one wants to see any form of waste, fraud or abuse in our social support services - but it is clear that a large segment of our society are sociopaths incapable of compassion for our disabled and those less fortunate that geniunely need assistance - SHAME ON THEM!

Helen Wells is, obviously, and example of those selfish soul-less citizens that just don't give a damn about their neighbors - how pathetic!

Some of our most deserving citizens, our vets, can't get a dime's worth of assistance from the County or City because of the lack of funding, the vets get coldly turned away and told to go to the V.A. - when they should be able to get some pitance of help from their own hometown!

The competition amongst social services budgets is brutal - and we waste a significant amount of time and money in the bureacracy of battling budgets that beats some of our best social workers into burn-out (when they could, and would spend their time actually helping people in legitimate need)!

We know the scale of the challenge, yet we only provide about 1% to 10% of the support needed - that reflects that Nevada is failing 90% to 99% of the time! It's no wonder why Nevada is near the top of every bad list and near the bottom of every good list!

We need to make a paradigm shift in our thinking and reform the entire social services system - we can have a safety net to assist our homeless and get them off the streets and on a healthy path back into productive society. We can focus on "at risks" demographics and save millions of dollars by preventative measures before a person falls into homelessness, despair and depression!

But, first the majority of us must decide on a few fundamental questions: "Do we honestly believe in being good samaritans?" "Are we willing to be our brothers and sisters keepers when they are truly in need?"

The real answer to those questions can be found in our checkbooks and on our calendars - just look and see how much money and time have you donated to help those less fortunate than you?

Everyone says they "Support The Troops" but, look again, and ask yourself, how much time and money have you given to help our Homeless and Disabled Vets and Military Families?

It's time to end the shame and guilt and the national nightmare - it's time for us to step up and be citizens patriotic about peace and helping our neighbors - then, and only then, will we be able to be proud to call ourselves Nevadans and Americans again!
By darthbry

4/8/08 at 2:26 p.m.

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I agree and disagree with Johnathan. However, I also agree with Helen to a point. Welfare needs to disappear for anyone and their dependants who are not legal citizens. It is not up to any legal tax paying citizen to pay for law breakers who pop out a few kids as soon as they hit American soil. That alone would reduce our state budget by 100's of millions. This would eliminate burnout for social workers as they would no longer have to deal with that section of society and hopefully it would send the people back where they came from. As far as I concerned, the money wasted on illegals should first go to help the VA situation. These men and women are heros and deserve all the help that can be given. Also, education is an issue, however we as a people need to put responsibility back on the parents. They are your children first. it is a parents duty to educate their children. We can spend all kinds of money on programs and other non sense, but without the parents at home taking an active (key word active) role in educating their children. Now I know the arguement will be, these are working families, both parents have to work...blah blah blah, should have thought about that before having kids. I recently attended the CCSD/Sherriff forum on school violence, and of all people, a lawyer made the best statement. The education crisis is a result of parents who take no responsibility in educating their own. The parents who complain are the parents who sit there kids in front of the tv, or buy them video game systems and spend no time with them. Well enough ranting...
By Johnathan_Abbinett

4/9/08 at 12:01 a.m.

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I absolutely was not supporting any manner of waste, fraud or abuse, nor, assisting any type of criminal activity - I thought that would go without saying!

However we eventually solve the immigration challenge, if we ever do, it will not provide enough relief for our underfunded and overly burdened social service workers - nice thought, and any relief would be a good thing, but the math just doesn't balance out that easily.

I also strongly agree that education is at the root of the problem - and educating parents who need assistance is a paramount point!

Let's keep in mind that no child chooses their parents - and, they too, still deserve an equal opportunity at life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and a fair shot at the American Dream!

Sure, they are their parents children first and foremost - but, then we need to be willing to care for all of the children as if they were our own - and that's just too much for selfish people to swallow isn't it?

Thankfully, our military members in the armed foces don't feel that selfishly about others needs!

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