I got an email from Senator Allen today and she tells me she needs all good Republicans to help push AHCCCS reform because the state's budget can't be amended until some serious changes have been made, and by the end of next month, teachers, DPS officers, and other state employees will not be actually getting paychecks, but bank drafts. IOUs, if you will, because the state is taking out another $90 million loan (on top of the $70 million they got in November) just to pay state employees through the Christmas season, and there is no money in the budget. Halfway through the fiscal year, and the budget account is dry. I told her, as I told her a couple weeks ago when we last talked, that the whole welfare system needs reform. People are making more on welfare and unemployment than they can working an honest job, and that is a bunch of shit, pardon my French. I swear to gosh, my mom said this very thing to me just this past weekend. "There are just no jobs out there." I said, "Oh that's a bunch of crap. When I drive to Show Low, there isn't a fast food restaurant in town that isn't hiring, and I know KMart and WalMart both hire between October and February just to get through the holidays, so don't tell me you can't find work." "Yeah," she says to me, "they're hiring, but I make more on unemployement than I would there, so that is kinda dumb." And you know what, I totally agree. It is no freakin wonder people are refusing to work. It is no wonder the state of Arizona and its businesses didn't really get into the black by Black Friday. It is no wonder that a full 34% of Arizonans are drawing welfare right now. But I have a solution. It has holes, but it is a jumping-off place, nothing more.
Here is my proposal.
- If you are not found medically unable to work, you do not get benefits of any kind (food stamps, AHCCCS, utility assistance, cash assistance) unless you or someone in your household is not working a full-time job or combination of part-time jobs to be considered full-time. (40 hours a week) Food stamps can be offered on a part-time basis, and benefits will expire after 6 months, regardless of your station. This "work" doesn't necessarily have to be paid employment, and can be community service (volunteering in schools, nursing homes, libraries, collecting litter from the streets, mowing the grass at the park, etc.), as long as an employment supervisor will initial that you are doing said work, and it can be verified.
- You must be a legal resident of the United States, on a work visa that has not expired, or on a student visa that has not expired, in order to even apply for any type of benefits.
- Each person considered for benefits MUST pass a drug test. A failed drug test renders you ineligible for any state benefits for the period of 6 months. At that time, if you can pass the test and the other stipulations apply, you can resume your benefits for whatever duration you had remaining on your original benefit period. In other words, if you had 2 weeks left when your test came back dirty, you only have two weeks left when you resume recieving benefits. If you refuse a drug test, it is the same as having a dirty one.
- Unemployment is paid by the employers who severed you, not the state, and the state does not subsidize it in any way.
- AHCCCS is for children, pregnant women, and people over 65 only. All children under 18 qualify for AHCCCS, regardless of their family's income, unless they are covered by their family's health care provider.
- NO CHILD IS DENIED HEALTH CARE COVERAGE FOR ANY REASON.
- No welfare benefits can be used for alcohol, tobacco, or other controlled substances.
It all boils down to this. You do your part, the state will help make up the rest. You don't do your part, and the state is really sorry, but there is nothing that they can do.
Many people would see such a proposal as more government, but it really isn't that at all. I don't really believe in government in a society where people are capable of taking care of themselves. But in the society in which we now live, people think its okay to do just about anything, and don't believe accountability for their actions is anything short of tyranny. People do not know how to govern themselves, or take care of themselves. It was estimated last year that if electricity were to suddenly go away, 20% of the country would die within 6 months because they've lost the skills of cooking food without either an electric range or a microwave. And I ask you, can you cook on open flame? What if we lost gas? Natural gas, propane, butane, is what I mean? Probably close to another 15% would perish because they don't know how to build fires to keep warm or to cook, and don't have means to do that even if they knew how. And how many people have warm clothing, blankets, and bedding in their homes to keep themselves warm if the government weren't providing heat? I know it's winter now, but how many people would die of heat stroke in the summer if they suddenly had no air conditioning, swamp coolers, or ceiling fans? What if they had no running water? What if we couldn't go to the store because either we didn't have access to gasoline, or the stores couldn't store food due to no electricity?
This welfare proposal puts the responsibility for getting help back into the hands of the people with the outstretched arms. You want something from the government? Fine, that is what they are there for. But you have to meet them halfway. Better than halfway, actually. Because I do believe in help, I always have. There have been times, miserable, horrible times, when I have had to ask for help. I am a proud person, I will admit, and I hate to ask for help from anyone, but I have had to, just to survive, and I would again. But I will work my ever-loving butt off to do everything I can before I even think about asking for help. I always thought THAT was the American Spirit. My ancestors came to this country 200 years ago with the Irish attitude that we're just as good as everyone else, and if we have to work our fingers to the bone to prove it, we dang sure will. There is no shame in working hard and earning things by the sweat of the brow and the ache of the back. There is great pride in that, actually. I take a lot of pride in knowing that God alone has been helping me to get everything I have. I've never lived in my mother's house or my father's shadow. I've never relied on my father or my brother or my uncle to get me a job over 100 other people applying, just because he had power to do it. I've never relied on my family name or anything else to get what I've got. It's not much, but it is mine. Mine and God's. I thought that kind of pride was what it meant to BE an American. That is what the welfare proposal is all about. Getting people back into the mindframe that it is shameful to freeload and is something to be proud of to work hard. Really, once people start thinking that way again, there won't be any need for the government to provide welfare because the people will do it for each other. When you really remember what it is like to be down and out, to need help, you are so much more willing to reach out an lend a helping hand to others.
It's late, and I'm tired.
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