Point Distribution

Jason Delafe

Business Law II

Professor Whitby

Welfare Reform

PROF. WHITBY'S COMMENTS: I have posted my paper comments within the body of your discussions. Let me know if you have any further questions. ~PW

GRADING RUBRIC

Point Distribution

Your grade will be reported to you in the number of points you earned. To figure out your letter grade, take the number of points and divide it by 75. For example, 67.5 points divided by 75 = .9 which is an A.

Content 40/45

Organization 10

Readability 10

Grammatical correctness 10

Total possible points 70/75 (93% )

Good job highlighting the main themes for your discussion, Jason. Your analysis is right on point. Your outlined discussion was easy to follow. Please see my comments posted below.

Medicare and Medicaid, the largest form of welfare provided where enacted mid- 1960s. The purpose for the reform is apparent, politicians where pushing people to be more self-sufficient. Not enough mothers on welfare where doing what they should be doing to join the workforce and avoid welfare. The reform also intended to stop aliens from receiving welfare until they become citizens except under extreme circumstances. Clearly too many people where crossing our countries borders and milking our taxpayers. One must understand that our welfare system was very lenient prior and too many where taking advantage of the system.

Welfare does not pay for itself, the working class pay highest price for welfare. Even today too many are taking advantage of our working class. Many children where qualifying for SSI (Supplemental Security Income) that "involved little more than acting out in school or having a learning disability." Something had to be done; President Bill Clinton signed the bill August 22, 1996. It is important for Americans to be vigilant on this subject matter of Welfare Reform. The most important issue is that the people who need welfare should get it and those that should not, don't. I have heard a pregnant woman on the street talking to a friend about how as soon as her baby is born she will attempt to conceive again in order to receive higher welfare benefits. How can we regulate something like this? We have to make it not worth it. Always make it so that one can live better at a minimum wage paying job than on welfare at the highest one can receive.

The 1996 welfare reform act was intended to fulfill President Clintons campaign promise end welfare entirely. The bill relieved the AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) program in order to reduce the amounts of benefits. Something had to be done "Between the 1960s and the 1990s, AFDC's rolls increased dramatically, especially in the wealthier Northern industrial states." Too many people regard welfare as right rather than a privilege. Many Conservatives viewed the welfare system as a communist plot since it took money from the working class and gave it to the non-working in a sense. The system made it to easy for non-working people to live as well as working people who make under the median, working minimum wage jobs. The new bill passed in 1996 ended AFDC and required work in exchange for temporary relief and parents would have to working or on the job training within two years and would not receive help after five years. This was important for taxpayers to see as well. One would like to see their taxes used in more productive ways that benefit their country and themselves naturally rather than pay for some lazy individuals who would rather sit at home for a little a less pay. Or collect welfare and be employed "under the table."

The image of mother on welfare has changed. A time ago it used to be the mother at home unable or unwilling to work. That has changed drastically, as now it seems many collect welfare in forms of disability even and continue to work "under the table" jobs. These jobs are not on the books, the workers do not pay taxes and may not even receive a pay stub or a check simply cash for the hours worked or even salary.

One can picture, two single mothers working a cashier in a small business type environment one "under the table" and one on the books. The one working "Under the table" received $632 a month for disability $900 a month paid to housing by section 8 program, Medicare, and $100 in food stamps. I know this is likely because I interviewed a woman who receives this amount and also receives another $632 in disability because she claimed her child had learning disabilities. Both get paid $8 an hour and work 40 hours a week the mother who is collecting disability for herself and her child brings home $3,544 a month or $42,528 a year and the hard working honest mother brings home $1280 a month or $15,360 minus taxes that must be taken out in order to help afford the mother who is working on welfares salary and money that must be taken out to afford her and her child's health insurance. $42,000