Hello reader(s?). After a long period of absence, I have indeed returned to spread the gospel. Honestly, I've been fairly busy as of late, or I haven't really had the urge to write about something; you can believe whichever one you want.
In the Wisconsin State Journal on Friday there was an article about the possibility of increasing rent assistance payments for those who rely on Section 8 vouchers, with the major focus on how to do so. Even though I usually don't read the comments sections (and no one really should, it's so bad for your blood pressure), I came across this one statement:
"There is the answer,deplete all funds for these &%$*^ so we can raise city,county,state and federal taxes to enable these &^*%$ to continue to live off the hardworking citizenry,Good Choice councilmen."
I'd like to address something that bothers me, something that some of you may think about once in a while, but likely never realize. It's somewhat related to the comment above.
People who bitch about paying taxes to "enable these &^*%$ to continue to live off the hardworking citizenry" are often the same people that will turn around and bitch about the homeless and panhandlers (by the way, Alderman Bryon Eagon puts forward an interesting idea about panhandling here. With the right awareness campaign, it could work). Somoe people fail to realize that without these Section 8 payments, the number of homeless and panhandlers increases. I am bothered by people who bitch about both outcomes of a political choice; in this case, either providing rent assistance for people, or letting them go homeless. People who complain about when the government does something and when the government doesn't do something are idiots. You cannot have it both ways! Take, for example, the stimulus. If you're against it, fine. But I better not hear you gripe when the next economic catastrophe comes around and the government takes no action. Or here's one of my favorites (particularly in Wisconsin). A lot of people I know bitch about Illinois tolls, and boast about the lack of tolls in Wisconsin. Some of these people also gripe about road conditions in Wisconsin a few sentences later. Well, if you just had a few toll roads, the state might actually have some funds to spend on road repair, among other things.
People, you have to make a choice. You can either pay the tax to keep the poor off the stree, or you can deal with the poor on the street. For those that ask why the government has to get involved...it's the government. It's often the single entity capable of handling a widespread issue in a uniform and coherent fashion (even if you don't get their methods, the people running the programs do, and that's what counts). Not to mention, the government has an obligation to each and every one of its citizens, not just the well-off ones, or the ones who fortune has smiled upon. Personally, I would rather pay the tax to keep people off the street.
I am thankful that I have been born to a well-off family. My dad works very hard at what he does, and he's good at it. He and I disagree about taxation, mostly because he's the one that earns a lot of money, and I'm the one that doesn't. However, he's consistent about his views, particularly on welfare, and I respect him for it (I even change his mind once in a while). I don't think I will ever change my views on welfare, because I know that welfare primarily seeks to help those who have had a run of bad luck or fallen to circumstances beyond their control. Sure, bad apples get into the pool, but the system tries as much as it can to seek those out and remove them. If problems become serious, then reform is needed to weed out the bad apples, but allow those who need welfare to access it. Additionally, I know that if, God forbid, something should happen and I need to rely on the assistance of the state, that it will be there for me because I paid into it and the American people paid into it. Welfare is just a public insurance program. It is analogous to the money pool an extended family creates to support each other on hard times. Just because you never get sick doesn't mean you shouldn't have health insurance. When you pay for someone's unemployment insurance, you should take comfort in the fact that should you find yourself out of a job, someone else will pay for your unemployment checks.
In the end, we all must choose if we are to watch out for one another, or if we are all truly in it only for ourselves.
End of rant.
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