When work is punished: The tragedy of America’s welfare state

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• This.. is a great post. I could stare at that graph for hours

• I contacted my Congresswoman to inform her about my opinion of reducing spending and not raising taxes and asked her to show support for TEA Party movement.

  Dear Friend:
  Thank you for contacting me regarding current legislative activity in the United States Congress. I welcome your thoughts and comments on this issue.

  Article 1, Section 1 of the United States Constitution grants legislative authority to the Congress. Like all members of Congress, I have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution and to loyally serve my constituents.

  I certainly believe that Congress must act in a fiscally responsible manner when it comes to spending taxpayers' hard-earned money. That is why I have fought hard in the Senate for less government and lower taxes. I will continue to monitor government expenditures and work to ensure that federal spending is focused on our national priorities.

  Each day I am required to make difficult decisions. In the face of an ongoing war on terrorism and economic challenges, I take this responsibility very seriously. I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress to strengthen our efforts as we work for the best interests of our state and our nation, keeping your concerns in mind.

  Congress must and will continue to face grave duties that have a significant impact over our country and our world. In many cases, pending legislation requires significant debate and careful, time-intensive deliberation by members of Congress. Please be assured that I am committed to what is in the best interest of the state, which has entrusted me to uphold the Constitution.

  I appreciate hearing from you. Please do not hesitate to keep in touch if I can be of further assistance to you.

  Sincerely,
  Kay Bailey Hutchison
  United States Senator

  284 Russell Senate Office Building
  Washington, DC 20510
  202-224-5922 (tel)
  202-224-0776 (fax)
  http://hutchison.senate.gov

  • Can I vomit now?

• And is it any wonder why so many people have decided to give up looking for jobs? Free Housing, free food, free phones, and a better income then the poor slob trying to pay his mortgage. This is the very reason "Dear Leader" and the rest of the crooks got elected in the first place.
  The idiots can talk about "Fiscal Cliffs" all they want, the producers are already outnumbered, might as well change the country's name to Somalia, cuz that's where we are headed.

• "the single mom is better off earnings gross income of $29,000 with $57,327 in net income & benefits than to earn gross income of $69,000 with net income and benefits of $57,045.”"
  And THAT means that before you step away from the $29000 with gov't benefits, you need an additional income of at least $28045 to match it.
  And you wonder why nobody can get off of welfare? What's being overlooked here is that for every dollar you earn over preset limits, there are stiff penalties: You can lose from $1 for every $3 you earn, all the way up to $1 for every dollar you earn...

• "We realize that this is a painful topic in a country in which the issue of welfare benefits, and cutting (or not) the spending side of the fiscal cliff, have become the two most sensitive social topics."

  No, it's not a sensitive topic, the Republicans just don't have any balls. Our society can't continue to exist as long as we have a system where the safety nets of society are allowed to be turned into hammocks and called home. Without real welfare reform and real spending cuts (including defense) our country will cease to exist as a free and prosperous land. And that's just the start. The huge government bureaucracies need to be ended, our screwed up tax system needs to be changed, states need to have more rights, our Constitution needs to be adhered to and include a balanced budget amendment, a budget needs to be passed, our candidates need to be vetted, term limits need to be implemented, the courts need to be less politicized, parents need to be more involved in their children's education, the 'one size fits all' school system needs to be reigned in, the American people need to turn off their televisions, the media needs to be exposed for what they are... Ah crap, there's so much to do, we're screwed.

• Trust me, they'll be after our 401K's here in a mement. The Obamunists are like pigs sniffing out truffles.

• Don't look at me, I voted for Ron Paul. Maybe if Corporate Greed didn't exploit slave-like labor in China, we'd have more jobs here and people wouldn't need welfare.

  • And speaking of poor clueless fools....

  • You must not be sure of your premise as you used the word "maybe". Also some {I could argue most} people don't need welfare.

    • And some (ie: most) corporations don't need the bailouts they get, which is essencially Corporate Welfare.

      • Crowley's "logic"
        1. Ron Paul= God
        2. People working= Corporate Greed
        2. A company making money= Corporate Greed
        3. A company laying off employees due to economic hardships= Corporate Greed

      • If you are pointing to say, GM, the bailout went to the UAW got the bailout, not the corporation, & the gov't still owns 26% of GM's stock.

        BTW, you automatically post Ron Paul/corporate greed when you post, & everytime I see your posts, I'm thinking dumb son of a bitch. So it's all good.

      • I knew that was going to be your comeback. It was no big prediction though.

      • What creepy Crowley forgets to mention is that he is on the public dole..I.E. Welfare and is a greedy welfare recipiant.....

• I tried to explain this to some poor clueless fool last week. I went into detail and he still didn't believe me.