Social Programs/Welfare

This has always been a hot topic because of the amount of tax money that has been wasted over the years on people who didn't want to be helped. While there are many who really need help and desire to move up in life there are always those who just want to use the system to their financial advantage. And they do it very efficiently. That's why the working people (who provide the tax money that is used for social programs) get angry.

I will not go into all of the federally funded social programs and my opinion on them because there is not enough space here. (Any information that you need on any federally funded social program is readily available on the internet.) What I will do is give you my philosophy about social programs and you will be able to apply it to any social program that you might be involved in or have an interest in.

First of all I am very wary of any social program. I do not like to see any socialist tendencies in our government. I also do not like to see tax money wasted on social programs that are bound for failure - even if it's one dollar. I also think that it is wrong for any able bodied man to live off of others who are willing to work. Able bodied men not only should work but need to work. Work is good for a man, I don't care what anybody says. If a man is not willing to work he should not expect others to feed and care for him. When he gets hungry enough he will work.

Having said that I also understand that there are those people in society that just plain need a helping hand. That's a reality that people like me, who are tight with a dollar, must understand. This would include single mothers that will end up being more of a liability to society if they don't get help with food, employment and child care. It also includes those with physical and mental handicaps who might very easily end up living on the street if they don't get a helping hand.

Also needing help are the children of men who refuse to take responsibility for the children that they father. Making sure that these kids get enough to eat, proper schooling and a roof over their head is an investment in our nation's future. We're going to pay for them one way or another. We either help them early in life so that they have a good chance at being an asset to society or we pay to keep them in jail later on in life. (However, all tax money used to help these children must be reimbursed by the father even if it means garnishing his wages for the rest of his life.) Some older people also need a little help as they get less physically independent, so that also needs to be considered a viable social concern.

All social programs designed to help the less fortunate need to be closely monitored because there are always those out there just waiting to abuse the system. There is a fine line to walk when it comes to any social program. The obvious need to help those less fortunate in society has to be balanced with a great respect for the taxpayers who work so hard to provide the tax money used to fund the social programs. When taxpayers feel that they are being used and/or taken advantage of by those they are trying to help you can kiss that social program goodbye. It's just a matter of time before the program is discontinued.

As your next president I plan on establishing non-government committees to evaluate each federally funded social program. If federal employees are designated to do this job you can be sure that the taxpayers will be suspicious of it no matter how well the job is done. Therefore I will ask for civilian volunteers to evaluate and grade each social program on a monthly basis to make sure that it is being used properly. Results of the evaluations will be announced to the taxpayers on national television during that month's "Meet and Vote" session so that they can know that their tax money is being used properly. Changes to the various programs will be made accordingly.

This process should be a step in the right direction to make sure that the federally funded social programs are working to the satisfaction of the American people. I'm quite sure that the American Taxpayers would rather see their tax money used to help their fellow Americans rather than being given away to foreign nations who will surely waste it. But they also don't want to see their tax money wasted here at home either. It's just a matter of using tax money efficiently. So the American people can expect some changes in that area if tax money allocated for current social programs is being misused. [See "Foreign Aid/Disaster Relief" in Index 2 for more information concerning tax allocations for foreigners.]