My solution for poverty.

[OldWiseGuy]

As you know I am deeply concerned about the poor, especially the drain they have on the rest of us. So here is my solution.

Pay them enough to lift them above the poverty level. Just write a check. This will save taxpayers $billions and effectively end poverty. It makes no sense to award a poor family tens of thousands in free benefits when a few thousand in cash will raise them above the nominal poverty level.

You're welcome.

 

[Sabertooth]

Simple!

 

[Second Coming]

Where does the money come from since America is already 21 Trillion in debt?

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Where does the money come from since America is already 21 Trillion in debt?

Being in (long-term) debt doesn't mean we have no money. Most of the debt isn't due for many years, SS for example. By spending less on the poor, mainly by eliminating agencies and bureaucracies, we can actually retire debt faster.

 

[Second Coming]

Being in (long-term) debt doesn't mean we have no money. Most of the debt isn't due for many years, SS for example. By spending less on the poor, mainly by eliminating agencies and bureaucracies, we can actually retire debt faster.

What makes you believe that we would be spending less?

 

[W2L]

Gods church should never be lacking anything, not according to 2 Corinthians 8:14, Acts of the Apostles 4:32-35 and Matthew 25:35-40

So if the Church should never be lacking in anything then the goal should be to get the poor to join the church.

 

[Basil the Great]

Where does the money come from since America is already 21 Trillion in debt?

I am for helping the poor more than most folks on Christian Forums, but the U.S. is in a very bad fiscal situation. Sooner or later, taxes will have to be raised or programs will have to be cut. The Federal Deficit cannot keep going up at this rate much longer.

 

[maintenance man]

Pay them enough to lift them above the poverty level. Just write a check. This will save taxpayers $billions and effectively end poverty. It makes no sense to award a poor family tens of thousands in free benefits when a few thousand in cash will raise them above the nominal poverty level.

When you just start writing checks people quickly get the idea it's easier to pick up a check than go to work.

I'd like to see the check dependent on working a 40 hour a week job. The government could create a labor force used to clean streets, maintain roads, assist in construction of infrastructure, child care, school support staff, etc. Anyone who wants a job can have one.

 

[Basil the Great]

When you just start writing checks people quickly get the idea it's easier to pick up a check than go to work.

I'd like to see the check dependent on working a 40 hour a week job. The government could create a labor force used to clean streets, maintain roads, assist in construction of infrastructure, child care, school support staff, etc. Anyone who wants a job can have one.

Yes, we could bring back the Works Progress Administration, the old WPA from the Depression era. I am sure that some form of work could be found for just about everyone.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

When you just start writing checks people quickly get the idea it's easier to pick up a check than go to work.

I'd like to see the check dependent on working a 40 hour a week job. The government could create a labor force used to clean streets, maintain roads, assist in construction of infrastructure, child care, school support staff, etc. Anyone who wants a job can have one.

That raises the cost by the creation of new agencies and bureaucracies. Better to use the taxes saved for such projects and employing the poor through contracts with the private sector.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

What makes you believe that we would be spending less?

"The United States has dramatically increased federal spending fighting poverty over the last 50 years. Total welfare costs have risen from $1,437 per person in poverty in 1967 to $18,369 per person in 2017. That totals $73,475 for a family of four even though the Poverty Threshold for such a family is $25,094."

https://federalsafetynet.com/poverty-and-spending-over-the-years.html

In such a case it would be cheaper to write a check for $26,000 rather than the $73,475 now being spent (which goes mostly to the government agencies and bureaucracy).

These figures don't including spending by the States and by private organizations. We have made an industry out of 'helping' the poor by collecting huge sums of money for ourselves and giving a pittance to the poor that we supposedly represent. The poor are the goose that lays the golden eggs.

And that's why, in America, "the poor will always be with you".

 

[Nithavela]

 

[Dave-W]

As you know I am deeply concerned about the poor, especially the drain they have on the rest of us. So here is my solution.

Pay them enough to lift them above the poverty level. Just write a check. This will save taxpayers $billions and effectively end poverty. It makes no sense to award a poor family tens of thousands in free benefits when a few thousand in cash will raise them above the nominal poverty level.

You're welcome.

Matthew 26:11
For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Matthew 26:11
For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me

We can't eliminate the poor from among us, but we can eliminate poverty (impoverishment). Jesus knew he wasn't contributing to the impoverishment of the poor by allowing the ointment to be used on himself. Even my plan doesn't eliminate the poor from among us, but it does lift them out of poverty (impoverishment).

 

[Aryeh Jay]

especially the drain they have on the rest of us.

It sound like you are really more concerned about your pocketbook.

 

[hedrick]

Nixon tried getting a negative income tax, which was essentially that. They couldn't come up with a formula that wouldn't incentivize some set of people to not work.

It's an interesting idea. There's increasing interest now in the form of a guaranteed minimum income. A few experiments are being done, and it may actually be in effect in a couple of places. Guaranteed minimum income - Wikipedia. There's a related concept, basic income, Basic income - Wikipedia. There are also some experiments being done with that, and a couple of places with something close.

The weaknesses are (1) a lot of people need more than money. They need education, mental health support, etc., (2) it's hard to come up with funding.

But it's certainly worth rethinking the current system. Unfortunately it's hard to have rational, evidence-based discussions in today's world.

 

[Dave-W]

We can't eliminate the poor from among us, but we can eliminate poverty (impoverishment). Jesus knew he wasn't contributing to the impoverishment of the poor by allowing the ointment to be used on himself. Even my plan doesn't eliminate the poor from among us, but it does lift them out of poverty (impoverishment).

?????????

Poor = in poverty.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

It sound like you are really more concerned about your pocketbook.

I give to charities.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

But it's certainly worth rethinking the current system. Unfortunately it's hard to have rational, evidence-based discussions in today's world.

You got that right.