Definition Of Welfare

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Welfare has been in the foreground of political debate for decades but recently it has been amplified due to 2016 presidential race. With billions of dollars being spent every year it is one of the greatest partisan issues dividing the nation. There is no consensus even amongst party lines on how to spend the money and who should receive the benefits. The United States has a population of over 300 million people with diverse backgrounds and needs that it will be difficult and perhaps even impossible to make everyone happy. Therefore, I interviewed three people with varying political beliefs and experience in order to get a diverse view of opinions and knowledge.Welfare is not a black and white issue, therefore, there is no right or wrong …show more content…

Finishing his last semester of his undergraduate degree at a 4-year public university he holds strong political beliefs. He made it clear that he is a democrat through and through. Welfare to him was “the …show more content…

His definition of welfare is welfare is anything that the government does in service to the populous. For him, the purpose of welfare is to provide a safety net around the impoverished that allows some of them to maintain a relatively decent lifestyle while trying to secure themselves financially. Which he saw as a benefit because everyone falls on hard times and receiving help with tax dollars a person has contributed to their whole life was something positive. On the other hand, as a disadvantage he described the system as a massive drain on the government. While some welfare is needed there is a lot of loopholes in the system that are being taken advantage of. Specifically, it is taken advantage of from people who don’t need it or those that don't think it's necessary to be productive because the government will supplement them. This is the result of giving people too much because it is the nature of humanity to take advantage of opportunities to maximize their income. However, he felt that most of the people on welfare needed it and welfare fraud is not the most critical issue. Those that benefited the least are the upper middle class because they are too high to receive benefits but too low to receive too many tax deductions. The best way to make welfare more effective is to simplify the system and set ground rules.

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