Wasting Time With Alex

Not getting better…

I wonder if Rham Emmanuel sawthis as one of those things a crisis that should not be wasted would do? Democrats love people on welfare - they depend on the democrats to keep the cash coming in so they vote for democrats - and like to keep them there. Its sure thing votes. But the story here is that despite record deficit spending and massive government meddling in the private sector, all predicated on promises to “fix” the economy and create jobs collectivist style, what we are getting is the largest and fastest destruction of wealth and the American standard of living in decades. Oh I know, the left will blame Bush. That’s the usual and obvious cop out. The fact that we got were we are now because PC politicians meddled with the lending and security rules tied to hih risk loans in the housing market, to do a good thing of course and promote more home ownership , especially amongst those with a record of not making wise choices, is not mentioned. Doing so would make it obvious that even more of the same is not going to fix things, but make them worse. And that’s what we got.

Twenty-three of the 30 largest states, which account for more than 88% of the nation’s total population, see welfare caseloads above year-ago levels, according to a survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal and the National Conference of State Legislatures. As more people run out of unemployment compensation, many are turning to welfare as a stopgap.

The biggest increases are in states with some of the worst jobless rates. Oregon’s count was up 27% in May from a year earlier; South Carolina’s climbed 23% and California’s 10% between March 2009 and March 2008. A few big states that had seen declining welfare caseloads just a few months ago now are seeing increases: New York is up 1.2%, Illinois 3% and Wisconsin 3.9%. Welfare rolls in a few big states, Michigan and New Jersey among them, still are declining.

The recent rise in welfare families across the country is a sign that the welfare system is expanding at a time of added need, assuaging fears of some critics of Mr. Clinton’s welfare overhaul who said the truly needy would be turned away. “To me it’s good news,” says Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution, who helped draft the 1996 welfare-overhaul law as a Republican congressional staff member. “This is exactly what should happen.”

Now don’t get me wrong. I really believe that many of those now hitting the welfare rolls would be a lot worse off without this safety cushion. But the real thing that angers me is that it almost seems by design that so many are forced to go on welfare. The one thing that would reverse this economic rut, the creation of new private sector jobs, seems to be the very last thing that the current crop of geniuses will try to ameliorate things. We had a trillion dollar patronage bill, Oh sorry my bad, I meant to say stimulus bill, and so far we are not seeing any kind of stimulating (unless a lot of people getting reamed by the continued damage to the private industry that the decisions the collectivists in charge keep making stimulates you). And it looks some of that money was targeted to help with welfare rolls.

The federal government’s fiscal stimulus includes $5 billion for states where more families receive welfare or spending increases on employment subsidies or short-term emergency assistance. That provision sparked concerns from the Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups that President Barack Obama was undoing the provisions of the 1996 law intended to encourage states to get people off welfare and onto payrolls.

So far, only California and Ohio have received stimulus grants, but 38 other states and territories said they plan to apply, said Jeffrey Kelley, spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families.

Now color me stupid, but while I see the need for this extra cash to help the ones suffering, I do not see any stimulus coming from that money. Well unless the stimulus is to get people to vote for democrats to keep the gravy flowing. The one thing that would have the biggest positive impact on the economy, the jobless rate, and the welfare rolls, the creation of new jobs, isn’t happening. In fact, all we get is stuff like this, which absolutely and totally turns off anyone in the private industry. Why risk capital and your very existence, the things that would generate new jobs, when our own government seems dead set against that?

And the economic downturn is far from reaching the bottom. With the WH fixated on screwing up healthcare as well, this despite the fact that close to 89% of Americans are happy with their current care - most of them do not even realize that what Obama wants is guaranteed to change their own care – and the fact that this would tack on trillions in new deficit spending, it is indisputable that things will get worse. Personally I want any healthcare change forced on us the people to also automatically become the de facto system that all politicians must have too. I guarantee you this disastrous healthcare proposal would die immediately if that was the case.

Get ready to see many more people sucking at the government’s teat. It is inevitable. And I am now seriously wondering if it isn’t all part of the plan. Collectivist gain power from dependant people. That’s why I have never, ever understood why so many Americans actually felt democrats would do better with the economy. It just does not compute.