What is even worse in ways than the illegals that use the system are the American citizens that do so ...
But then when looking for help I was told that I could get catastrophic coverage through Tenn Care if I divorced Bo and he didn’t carry insurance on me …I could also get food stamps … so the government encourages this sort of thing both on state level with the Tenn Care health coverage and federal government with the food stamp program … this needs to be fixed … close the loopholes.
Soundy ~
Once again, your latest post motivates me to not only agree with you but expand on your comments. Of course no one wants innocent children to go hungry because their irresponsible parents - often unmarried - won't provide for them. However, these programs are far too lenient and fail to consider the realities of co-habitation that allow unmarried 'couples' with minor children to 'game the system'. This kind of government meddling in the lives of it's citizens (via programs paid for by taxpayers) is what often leads to a 'welfare mentality' that by it's own rules condones immoral behavior and rewards those who are willing to lie to receive taxpayer-financed 'benefits'. This is destructive to our moral fabric and, as you noted, can produce children that will learn to accept the lying and immoral behavior as 'normal' and perpetuate the practice into future generations.
I believe this sad state of affairs is what can occur when we are induced by those in positions of authority to throw aside traditional concepts of morality often summed up in the self-serving cry often heard these days...
"you can't judge me!". Perhaps not, but I don't have to pay (via taxes) for your 'lifestyle', either. We've allowed the media and politicians to convince us to accept the idea that an unmarried couple with children is just a 'lifestyle choice' and convince us that we 'owe' some of these people 'benefits' because they have young children. The 'redistribution of wealth' (via taxes) is a pernicious political scheme that is doing much harm to both the taxed (you) and the recipients (your mooching neighbors). The American family is breaking down, devastated by the loss of a moral compass and a sense of shame in society - and when one states an objection, we're told by the media and many politicians that we are being 'judgmental' and want to starve innocent children. It's all a palpable lie but it tends to silence critics and so, we pay and pay more taxes while some continue to game the system and laugh at us while doing so, and the politicians allow this to go on. Only citizen activism can even begin to reverse this trend - and it may finally be coming in the November election, as average Americans are taxed to the max and, as you are, fed up with politicians allowing both legal residents as well as millions of illegal aliens to take our hard-earned (tax) money and call it 'compassion'. It isn't....and never was. It's a public policy based on a badly misguided premise that some advocates of this re-distribution of our collective means pretend is taken from the biblical admonitions to help the poor. However, this isn't a religious issue, but a political one and those who 'game the system' are stealing, plain and simple.
We need to elect people who will finally give the working American a break and, as you asked,
"close the loopholes". That won't happen if we keep re-electing the same kinds of politicians that view the taxpayer as a bottomless well of money they can distribute to 'the poor' (
and feel beneficent) while ignoring the blatant abuses inherent in these redistribution policies that end up abusing the long-ignored taxpayer. This has to stop but complaining won't do that. Elections have consequences. We still live in a democracy and we, as voters, can make a difference, but we have to want to. That means actually knowing who we're voting for and what they stand for. That takes some time and effort but its crucial to being an informed voter. I don't vote based simply on party or what the candidate says, but what he's done up until now. We'll never change the system until we change the people in charge of it, and that, like it or not, is politicians. However, in our democratic republic, we the people are in charge of the politicians. They answer to us. Many politicians seem to have forgotten that. Mostly because we, the voters, have allowed them to ignore us with guilt trips and flowery speeches about helping the poor, etc. It's time to take a cold, hard look at much of what we do for people in this country. I'm not advocating dismantling the 'social services' systems or ignoring real need, but simply making the people running these programs responsive to the taxpayers and, again,
'closing the loopholes'. I think its about time.
Jim
