Somebody wrote if they gave all the people collecting welfare $20,000 once a year and cut out all the other programs it would save the US government something like $100,000,000 a year. I didn't get into it enough to see if his calculations sounded reasonable, but the number was startling.
That said, I know there are welfare cheats, but I don't believe the percentage is higher than you'd find in card cheats, or anything else, there will always be some, it's human nature. I'd bet money it's a lot lower than tax cheats.
There's a lot of reasons people are on welfare besides just because they can. Addicts, mentally ill, physically handicapped, the people that got stuck when manufacturing went away, and people who have been stuck in poverty for generations. Sure there are examples of poor who have "pulled themselves up by the bootstraps"(which by the way is a scientific impossibility), but really refers to hard work and initiative. There's a lot more who have tried and been stubbed out like a cigarette butt.
Some have been sold the bill of goods that going to community college and get that degree you'll be set for life, which is bullshit. There's a lot more going on in life that can work for you or against you. Racism is still huge, but most of the people on welfare are not black. That's hard to believe around here because the ghettos like Camden and Chester are mostly black, but nationally, no.
Disability is a big one for stories of cheating, everybody has a friend who's cousin lives next to a cheat. You might even know someone you suspect. It's bad because if anyone needs help it's somebody who's worked, and got injured so they can't anymore. Hey, I saw him walk out to the mailbox, and he didn't even limp. That doesn't mean he can do his job eight hours a day, or even stand that long.
It twists me because I want to see people who really need help get it, but the cheats and laggards chafe my ass too. The China/Cuba system has had people on every block who keep an eye on everyone in that block. It's hard to know what everyone's doing all the time so these block czars enlist a couple friends to snitch. But they found these little fiefdoms were predominantly corrupt. So it appears just trying to big brother everyone to eliminate cheats isn't the answer.
Solving the problem and cutting the waste is haaarrd.
