Koharu
jphp
Sr. Member
Posts: 2,644
Political Matrix
E: -6.06, S: -4.35
|
 |
« on: December 04, 2017, 08:45:33 AM » |
|
|
« edited: December 04, 2017, 08:47:28 AM by jphp »
|
Yeah, let's condemn those kids who can't drop out of school and go to work to get health insurance yet. Oh, wait, we do have child labor laws in this country.
Time and time again, there has been no proof to back up the claim of people taking advantage of the system is a wide-spread problem. Sure, there are people that take advantage of every system. However, from personal experience as a bank teller in a low-income area (Huntington WV, so you'd be hard-pressed to find a more economically depressed area) as well as a volunteer here in Wisconsin, I can say that the number of people simply mooching off the system are very low.
Most of the people receiving "handouts" are working hard to get by. A lot of them can't "hold down a job" for various reasons, but it's not for lack of trying. One person I know is a single father to four children, three of which are triplets. His wife died shortly after the triplets were born. Another I know has a severe mental illness. When they're doing well, they are able to work a normal job and do excellently. But when the cycle hits, they are borderline dangerous and cannot work around the public. My own mother left my father, who was abusive to her, and while she was able to work, it was part-time work that didn't offer insurance. The list goes on and on and on.
Of course, this is all "anecdotal," but any real research done into the "system" supports this. There are always going to be bad apples that try to game any system, but by and large, they do not make up any real majority of people receiving government welfare. Yes, entitlements are a large portion of the budget. But how much of that is what people have paid in and now expect? Retirement, Medicare, etc, etc. To be eligible for those programs (as well as disability), one must have worked enough to qualify for those programs, or have a spouse who did (or be disabled under the age of 21 and qualify via parents). While there also is SSI, which does not require one to pay into the system to qualify, it has many other stringent requirements, as does Medicaid (though of course that varies by state).
And then, coming to CHIP... this is for children. What should it matter if their parents are "gaming the system" or not? We, as a culture, have decided that children are unable to care for themselves in many different matters, and thus, it is on all of us to make sure they are well-cared for if they happen to be ill. There is no way for a child to game the system. They cannot be painted with that brush that Hatch is waving here. They are dependents and while perhaps their parents did not make the best choice, we cannot blame those children. Especially coming from folks who claim to value life--valuing life is more than making sure a child is born. It is also being willing to care for that child once it is born. If this were Medicaid, maybe--maybe--Hatch's argument would make sense. But here? In regards to children? It's ridiculous and anyone who uses that argument in this debate is not pro-life in any real way.
|
