(Go ahead, rush off to google it, I give a crap. This here is my lecture, and I’ll deliver it as I see fit.)
Ahem, so…. These programs, whether food stamps peach care, tanf, afdc, reduced lunches, increased income tax deductions, etc., have got to be impacted by the new federal minimum wage. You’ve got a whole class of people who barely scrape by, and depend on these services to make it. By raising their incomes one of two things is bound to happen.
A.)They no longer qualify for the benefits they were most recently entitled to, and the freakin’ $28 per week ain’t enough to provide health insurance for their kids….
B.)They continue to qualify for the exact same benefits they were already receiving, because the standard for qualification has been changed.
Option A would just plain old suck, if you’re a Democrat. Since they voted the increase in, it would then be their fault that all the little ones are going without food and medical care. Doesn’t make their party look so great.
By Republican standards, this is not necessarily such a bad scenario. Less money going into the welfare system and so on and so forth.
Still, as captains of the minimum wage increase ship, I doubt the Democrats will throw the masses overboard.
So, let’s assume that we’ll be choosing option B.
On the surface, option B seems like the right/fair/just option. Let’s dig a little deeper, shall we?
Joe Blow is working for 7 bucks an hour. Its crap and he knows it, but he’s gettin’ by. He feels ok about himself, cause he is after all, making, more than minimum wage. He may live in somebody’s basement and drink discount beer on the weekends, but all in all, he’s making it work.
Suzy Q. on the other hand, is bustin’ her butt for the 5.15 that MegaLoMart doles out to part time employees who are required to be there 36 hours a week, but not a minute more cause by god, health insurance is only for full time managers! Her kids get seen at the free clinic for their school check ups, and her rent is controlled by some subsidized program. It’s a crappy life, and she just wants better for her and her kids.
She knows the wage hike is coming, and she’s holding on for dear life til it gets here.
Little does Joe Blow know about how lucky he’s fixin’ to get.
In order for Suzy Q to continue to receive all of the benefits she was previously dependant upon, one of two things has to happen.
1.)The government changes the standards to include all peoples working for 7 bucks an hour. This now entitles thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of “new” people to government benefits.
2.)The government changes the standards to include only those who were previously receiving benefits, thus creating some sort of new social class, not delineated by money at all.
How can option 2 exist, you ask? Beats the heck outta me…… but do you really think that the government is gonna let all those folks start receiving welfare? Seriously? Where the crap would all of that money come from? Do you know how much it costs to have 10 people on foods stamps, peach care, etc…? Now, multiply that by 10,000 more than were already enrolled in those programs.
The only solution to this? More taxes…..
I’ve got more to say, but (burp) I gotta get up and go pee.
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