Should we get rid of food stamps, Medicaid, etc, for families, and just give the poor lots of money?

My prediction: The GOP learns about a Cherokee who spent his cash grant on whores and whiskey, GOP candidates nationwide campaign against naive lefties who want to redistribute white people's hard-earned money to welfare kings and queens, and the GOP dominates 2016 elections.

I don't see how this is politically feasible, although sure it might be sensible policy.

OK, what Matt said.

 

A bit of economist humor in that link, fancy that.

 

That would be as crazy as giving away billions in subsidies to oil companies. Get serious, people!

 

Well, we might get more trickle down if we gave the billions directly to the oil company owners, after all...

 

But what about the Cherokees who just waste the money?

[/George Best]

 

I should have seen that coming, this being a soccer board.

Speaking of which, I just learned that the recently departed Doctor Who (Matt Smith) was in Leicester City's system through his teens. Here he is messing around at fan convention, looks a little rusty but as TV stars go he looks alright at the game -

 

I wouldn't have a problem with it except for Medicaid. Giving poor people a few thousand dollars a year doesn't help them if they get really sick.

I would also find myself out of a job when section 8 goes away.

 

Those on the right who decry the "nanny state" think that the government knows how to best spend money when it comes to food stamps. But I learned to stop expecting consistency long ago.

 

I wish Warmth was still around.

 

There was an interesting idea that came out of the unemployment insurance extension debate. Rather than extend benefits another 3 months (or into perpetuity if the Dems had their way) why not simply give the chronically unemployed a lump sum payment and be done with the debate? After all, nothing is more detrimental to your job prospects than being out of work for 99 weeks.

 

Gosh, you must be way higher in the hierarchy than me, Fishy-- I thought it was just until the job creators got around to creating some jobs...

 

Actually Nancy P says unemployment benefits are a job creator, but that wasn't my point. Why pay people not to work? If you give them a check and say "that's it" they'll either go back to work or go won't, but you don't bankrupt the unemployment insurance program and you actually give people an incentive to take a job (any job if need be).

 

Unemployment benefits are in a sense a stimulus. If Pelosi referred to them as job creators somewhere, it was surely in an effort to translate the concept for those speaking only Republican.

But anyway, when the lump sums are all gone and there still are no jobs, the unemployed will just evaporate or self-deport or something? Or maybe some will take to robbing banks and then we'll have an incentive to hire the rest to stop them?

 

I'd ask... 5 years into an economic recovery why are no jobs?
I'd ask, if someone is out of work for 99 weeks... what are their job prospects?
And I'll you ask you John, is unemployment insurance supposed to be a permanent entitlement rather than a short term stop gap?

You and your ilk don't do the unemployed any favors. If I lost my job and hadn't found another in 26 weeks I'd gladly take a lump sum knowing it I couldn't find another job soon I'll probably be on the rolls of the permanently unemployed.

 

But you are not to say the name......

AZTAROTH

 

No wonder you couldn't remember dialogue from your previous day-- you can't even keep track of two posts ago...

 

Uh John, initially I proposed that a lump sum payment might be preferable to perpetual unemployment payments. You’ll have to explain why that post doesn’t pertain to the next post that unemployment insurance shouldn’t be a permanent entitlement. Rather than attack me personally, why not address the issue?

 

A jobs program for the chronically unemployed would be a good idea. To soothe jobless-hating Republicans, we can hire people to investigate and recommend for prosecution those sneaky people who have been committing voter fraud all over America.