Simple. Take away the aid and give them the choice to starve or get motivated. Works wonders.

After Clinton's welfare reforms, you would not believe the number of women in the welfare office complaining that they had to get out and go to work for 2 days a week. [img]graemlins/evilhaha.gif[/img]

yeah, but isnt taking away aid and letting them starve or get motivated what the conservatives want to do? now youre thinking like a republican...

Actually, if you have to send them the Gummint check on the 1st and 15th, make them do *something* with their time other than sit on the porch drinkin' 40's, watching Ricki Lake, or making more bay-bies. Pick up trash 8 am - 4pm -- whatever. It's called "workfare" and Senator Moynihan in New York had quite a good set of ideas for it.

You'd be surprised how many get up and go get a job if you take away the aid. Support to keep them from starving? -- please, we can quit handing out AFDC checks that provide a DVD player in every trailer and tenament and instead spend MUCH MORE on soup kitchens and homeless shelters, which is where people who won't work *should* be.

Did you know that food stamps are the most counterfeited and most misused "currency" in this country -- I know places in KY where just 5 years ago food stamps could be traded for a GUN -- or Loritabs if you prefer. What about AFDC -- the program started to help widowed mothers after the world war cope with raising children on a shoestring budget? Now that program encourages inner city couples to NOT get married and rent ADJACENT apartments, because the ($Welfare)-($Rent) is great than zero, which = profit.

Puh-lease.

Speaking of soup kitchen-eqse places, after volunteering a few times at one, it really made me wonder why some people are too "poor" to buy food, but they have cell phones and designer clothes.

EXACTAMUNDO, MY GOOD MAN!!!!!

wow, apparently you and i arent that different timber... i feel the same way. you sure you're a liberal and not just some non partisan in disguise?

<font color = lightgreen>Cosby is right on this one. I respect his politics even though I can't stand his TV shows--except for I Spy.
The only color that will bring about true equality is green--money. I don't mean some handout, I mean education and employment. No, a career alone won't make someone rich (a fact I know only too well), but it will build a foundation for the next generation. Furthermore, if the black community--or any community, for that matter--wants to improve its overall position, then they should patronize black-owned business and black business owners should help each other out financially; the synergistic effects would be amazing in only 10 years.</font>

Non-partisan, is that the catch phrase? By my own admission, I am a perennial fence-sitter, an enemy to both sides, to all sides -- to everyone! I dislike everyone's opinion, including my own. [img]graemlins/heee.gif[/img]

<font color=deepskyblue>I've seen this many times here in Western NC also. And since we are less than 20 miles from the state lines of Tennessee and Georgia, there a LOT of people that are "triple dipping". It's amazing how many cars with GA or TN tags are in our local Post Office on the 1st and 15th of each month. And it only takes an hour or so to get to South Carolina from here, so they could even go for the "Four Play".

Seriously, I've seen examples of people who do this and who cheat the system. The sad thing is that they would take LESS effort to get an honost job than it does for them to "cheat" the system in 3 (or 4) different states.

It's like kids that used to spend HOURS making teeny, tiny cheat sheets for their school tests. One of my college profs found a bum wrapper in the floor after a test with a lot of the answers on it. The handwriting was miniscule. He made the point that it probably took twice (or even 3 times) the effort and time to WRITE the cheat sheet as it would to have just STUDIED the questions in the first place. Of course, the irony is that all the effort put into the cheat sheet probably rendered it useless. They probably DID know the answers inside and out by the time they were finally finished.

My dad campaigned for WorkFare in NC SEVERAL years ago and I have always thought it is a great idea. I have no problem helping those that can't help themselves, but I DO have a problem with those that just won't help themselves - and expect everything to be handed to them.

When my wife and I were first married, we were at the local convenience store one night to get a couple of things. There was a very young couple in front of us. They had a couple of bags worth of groceries, which they paid for with food stamps. No problem. But then they rented FIVE videos from the store - which they could do since they didn't have to spend any of that money on food. [img]graemlins/dontknowaboutyou.gif[/img] And that is just a mild example of how people abuse the Welfare System.

<font color=tan>Timber</font> is absolutely right when he says it is amazing how many of these people WILL get a job when they find out the gov't is going to require them to do some work for their checks rather than getting a FREE HANDOUT every month.</font>

For the record, let me state that just because I'm a liberal-minded person, it doesn't believe in free handouts...
The other day my dear friend and I were noting that, despite the best of intentions, the department at my school that gives "young, urban" kids the opportunity for an affordable education is abused. We see black kids walking around with designer clothing and a free ride while many other non-minority kids will be paying loan bills for decades... It's grossly unfair.