Welfare Reform

All Forms of Government Welfare Should be Abolished By: Michelle M. Flores 12/11/08 Strayer University PHI 210 Professor James Poteet All Forms of Government Welfare Should be Abolished Welfare is defined as â€Å"governmental provision of economic assistance to persons in need. † (wordnet. princeton. edu). There are many programs that are currently implemented to aid and assist families in need. Under new laws, Maryland has re-named its assistance programs to Family Investment Programs.Some of these programs include: TCA- Temporary Cash Assistance, Food Stamps, WIC – Women Infants and Children Program, Child Care Assistance, Medical Assistance, Section 8- housing assistance, Energy Assistance and many other programs. To qualify for such programs, a family must have a minor child or a pregnant woman, and the parent must have applied for child support from the absent parent. It is said that the family applying must show a need for assistance. (peoples-law. org). Currentl y, the United States is in a financial recession. This recession has made many Americans rely and depend on such assistance from the Government.With all of these and many more programs implemented, when is enough, enough? How much assistance should be offered to a single family or person? What programs are actually necessary and/or beneficial? I will provide a brief synopsis of a few programs below. Temporary Cash Assistance Temporary Cash Assistance is a government allowance in the form of cash. Qualifications for this program are as follows: Household sizeGross Income 1 person or a pregnant woman$216. 00 a month or less 2 persons$380. 00 a month or less 3 persons$482. 0 a month or less 4 persons$583. 00 a month or less 5 persons$675. 00 a month or less (peoples-law. org). The current minimum wage in Maryland is $7. 25. (epi. org). This means that a single person or pregnant woman cannot work anymore than thirty two hours a month or eight hours a week to qualify for this benefit. T he average person works at least thirty to forty hours per week, which is about four times the qualifying allowance. What kind of job will allow a person to work only eight hours a week?How is this fair to those who work more than that and are still struggling to get by living paycheck to paycheck? It’s not! Are these families using this cash assistance to help pay bills or to live lavishly? What type of control is used here? There is no control, so absolutely none. Now, I am not saying that families who receive cash assistance should not be able to buy luxury or feel good items, but these items should not be a priority before bills are paid. If you cannot afford to keep your lights on, you should not be in the bar buying alcohol or in the salon getting your hair and nails done. This is absurd!I love to see my tax dollars going to hair nails on a woman that is not working, but yet I work full time and cannot afford to have my hair and nails done as often as those women do. SN AP SNAP otherwise known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is the new name for the Food Stamp Program. SNAP is a government allowance that provides needy families with the benefit to buy food. This program provides a family with a card similar to a debit or credit card that holds the benefits allotted to said family. If a person or family qualifies for cash assistance, they will automatically qualify for SNAP.The income guidelines are as follows: Household SizeGross IncomeNet Income 1 person$1,127. 00$867. 00 2 persons$1,517. 00$1,167. 00 3 persons$1,907. 00$1,467. 00 4 persons$2,297. 00$1,767. 00 5 persons$2,687. 00$2,067. 00 (peoples-law. org). With minimum wage at $7. 25 per hour, a person can work an average of one hundred and seventy two hours a month for an average of about thirty two hours a week.What are the problems with this program? How do we make certain that the needy families and children of those needy families are actually receiving the allotted benefit s? The government cannot control this either. Many times these benefits are sold to those who are not needy for half or less than what they are really worth. Meaning, a person not being supplied with this benefit can buy the card from a needy person and go into a market and buy a hundred dollars worth of groceries for only fifty dollars. The non-needy person has then saved a lot, but the child of a needy family is at home with less available food.This sickens me that a parent can literally take out of their child’s mouth just to get cash to do God knows what with. WIC WIC is the Women, Infants and Children Program. This program covers pregnant women, new mothers and children under five who have a nutritional need. The income guidelines here are: Family SizeIncome per monthIncome per year 1 person$1,604. 00$19,240. 00 2 persons$2,159. 00$25,900. 00 3 persons$2,714. 00$32,560. 00 4 persons$3,269. 00$39,220. 00 5 persons$3,824. 00$45,880. 0 This program supplies mothers with inf ants or young children with milk, cheese, beans, oatmeal, cereal and several other nutritious items. This program is very beneficial to the family, as it maintains the health of babies, young children and mothers. I feel as though this is a wonderful program. With every up there is a down. Welfare fraud is huge in America. Welfare fraud is described as â€Å"the intentional misuse of various state funded Welfare programs. † (spamlaw. com). Fraud comes in many forms and may consist of withholding income, household size information or providing false information to obtain benefits.Here we have people obtaining benefits and are not deserving of them. One for instance is the purchasing of the SNAP card. Welfare fraud is very expensive. â€Å"It costs the system millions in misused benefits every year. † (spamlaw. com) â€Å"Welfare fraud has been widely criticized by advocates of the system because this abuse makes funds less available to those who actually need the benef it. It has also been criticized by opponents of the system who believe the crime creates situations where hard working taxpayers are supporting the middle class and a lavish lifestyle for criminals.These critics have coined the terms ‘welfare Cadillac’ or ‘welfare Queen’ to instances or individuals associated with welfare fraud† (spamlaw. com). All actions of welfare fraud should be avoided if you are approached to be involved in such acts. These crimes are punishable by the full extent of the law. If a person is convicted of welfare fraud and put in prison, are our tax dollars not going to further take care of them? In prison inmates are fed, clothed and nursed to health. Not to mention they have to be guarded by correctional officers or policing staff.Wow, what a vicious cycle. We take the benefits from them in the free world, but then again support them in the locked up world. I am so glad that my hard earned tax dollars are supporting such trash. The new changes in the Welfare program were created to help families achieve independence. What is the government doing to help achieve such independence? What programs are implemented to get these needy families back into the work force, not to depend on the government? The Welfare reform in the early 1990’s led to a huge reduction in Welfare dependency. Under the old AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependant Children) program, states were given more federal funds if their welfare caseloads were increased, and funds were cut whenever the state caseload fell. This structure created a strong incentive for states to swell the welfare rolls. Prior to the reform, one child in seven was receiving AFDC benefits. † (Conn Carroll). At this time, President Clinton created programs that allowed families to learn new skills and help them transition back into the work force. This reduced Welfare dependence and required welfare recipients to prepare for employment.This is what really nee ds to be done. However, with the new financial crisis that the United States is currently seeing, it is harder for those with minor skills to obtain work. President Obama has enacted stimulus bill that abolishes welfare reform and adds new welfare spending. â€Å"It is clear that – in both the House and the Senate stimulus bills – the original goal of helping families move to employment and self-sufficiency and off long term dependence on government assistance has instead been replaced with the perverse incentive of adding more families to the welfare rolls.The House bill provides four billion per year to reward states to increase their Temporary Cash Assistance case loads; the Senate bill follows the same policy but allocates less money. † (Rector & Bradley). This is crazy. The funds should be allocated by the amount of unemployment per state, not a gross figure overall. There are some states that are better off financially than others. The funds should be divi ded accordingly. â€Å"In the first year after enactment of the stimulus bill, federal welfare spending will explode upward by more than twenty percent, rising from $491 billion in FY 2008 to $601 billion in 2009.This one year explosion in welfare spending would be, by far, the largest in U. S. history. † (Rector & Bradley). Since the enactment of the welfare reform in the early 1990’s, many Americans have become less dependent on the welfare system. Clinton gives great thanks for being re-elected partially due to his signing of the welfare reform bill. Great job and wonderful efforts President Clinton! In my opinion Welfare is an incentive for people to sit at home and not work, to not be responsible for themselves or their families. Don’t get me wrong, I do see a need for assistance programs, only when necessary.Do I think that all forms of government welfare should be abolished? No, I do not. Surprised by this answer? I knew you would be. I agree that these p rograms should be implemented for those who are in crisis and desperately need them. These programs should not be used and abused at American’s leisure. Considering the tough economic times we are in right now, I agree that many Americans need help. Especially those who have lost their jobs and those who are aggressively seeking employment, but cannot find it. However, this help should only be temporary.New reform needs to be implemented. Education and services need to be offered to get people back into the work force and off of government dependency. With all of the current programs offered, me as a single mother has a huge incentive to quit my job, stay at home and collect all the government has to offer. Then, I may be able to buy lobster in the grocery store rather than 80/20 ground beef. WORKS CITED Carroll, C. (2009). Stimulus Bill Abolishes Welfare Reform. Retrieved November 7, 2011 from http://blog. heritage. org/2009/02/11stimulus-bill-abolishes-welfare-reform/print/ Fox, L. 2007). What a new Federal minimum wage means for the United States. Retrieved November 7, 2011 from http://www. epi. org/publications/entry/ib234/ Rector, R. and Bradley, K. (2009, February). Stimulus Bill Abolishes Welfare Reform and Adds New Welfare Spending. Web Memo No. 2287 Published by the Heritage Foundation http://www. peoples-law. org/income/gov-ben/family_investment_program. htm What is Welfare Fraud? Retrieved November 7, 2011 from http://www. spamlaws. com/welfare-fraud. html http://wordnetweb. princeton. edu/perl/webwn? s=welfare

Centralized Organizational Structure Essay

ABC Homecare is a growing company consisting of four different departments. Each department has a director who makes all of the daily decisions from patient enrollment to employee breaks. This type of structure worked well when the company was established in 1989 since it only consisted of 30 employees total. ABC Homecare has grown to over 150 employees and needs change. The centralized structure has been successful for the Directors of the company, however, often leaves employees and managers unhappy. This structure is popular for producing â€Å"sluggish† business operations since ultimately only one person is making the final decision (Vitez, 2013). Currently we have 7 employee complaints on file for issues regarding our structure. Formal versus Informal Organization Reports have indicated that attendance in our formal organization groups have decline drastically over the past six months. Many employees have joined the smaller, informal groups to voice concerns and suggestions. Although we are happy that employee voices are still exercised, they are not getting the level of satisfaction needed according to the employee and this is for a number of reasons. Employees are using their voices in informal settings that do not have all of the features of actual formal organizations. In a formal group several features are characterized: a common goal; an accepted pattern of purpose †¢ a set of shared values or common beliefs that give individuals a sense of identification and belonging †¢ continuity of goal-oriented interaction †¢ a division of labor deliberately planned to achieve the goal †¢ a system of authority or a chain of command to achieve conscious integration of the group and conscious coordination of efforts to reach the goal (Liebler & McConnell, 2013 p. 67). Without these features, informal groups only serve to clarify any misunderstanding from a formal organization or allow for socialization informally. Although ABC Homecare has been voted one of the best homecare agencies in our area, there is room for improvement. Patient satisfaction is greatly affected by employee satisfaction so a plan must be implemented soon to ensure that our employees are happy to work for our company and remain as such.

Journeys

Through my study of micehal gows novel away, the documentary Cinderalla Children and the novel Fight Club, i now agree with Marcell Proust that â€Å" We dont recieve wisdom we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one else can take for us†. The individuals in these texts gain wisdom from their journeys as a result of their experiences, perspective and personal growth, however some choose to use their wisdom more wisely than others. This proves that wisdom can not be received but rather we must discover it for ourselves.The character that is seen to undergo the most profound change within the text ‘Away’ , by Michael Gow in my eyes, is Coral. We are introduced to Coral to be in an emotionally fragile condition, grieving the death of her son. She is seen to have alienated herself from society, and has a strained relationship with her husband Roy, unable to conform to his expectations. Coral’s psychological state is clearly depicted in the so liloquy Gow has utilised in Act One – Scene Three.Through her speech we understand that she is in an unstable state, as suggested at the beginning of the soliloquy, where she states, â€Å"When that woman woke up and saw that donkey at her feet I thought my heart would break. † This line generally depicts her detachment and alienation from society, through the inconceivable language used. Throughout irene gleesons life ( before the thought of the cinderella children project even started ) she had experienced pain and truma due to her past but she had a very strong faith in Christ which she believed helped her through her drakest days.With her fatherless home and harsh childhood, he grew to become a motherfigure to her family, even though later down the track her marriage broke down which resulting in her leaving her faith in god for a spiritual search, but through trialing other religions she returned to her Christian faith even more determined to help. She grew to kno w jesus as the only husband she needed. So before she knew it she had sold her dream beach house and her possessions to afford the big move with her caravan over to kitgum, Uganda.This is where the idea that gaining wisdom through out past experiences or journeys it may not seem relevant at the time but fundememntally help you when your struggling. The main character in Fight Club is the narrator and the main themes of the story are loneliness, materialism, and freedom from society. Tyler was created because of the lack of connection the narrator had with the people around him. The narrator was lonely and attended so many support groups because of it. He was not rejected at the support groups because the members thought he was sick just like they were.Materialism is a reoccurring theme as the narrator mentions how he has worked his entire life for the Ikea items in his apartment. He tried to fill the void in his life by buying worthless, meaningless stuff. People spend too much time working for things they do not need. The narrator comes to the conclusion that, â€Å"You are not your job or your possessions. † Only once a person realizes that can he or she finally let go and start living. â€Å"It’s only after you’ve lost everything,† Tyler says, â€Å"that you’re free to do anything. † In order to be free, we must not care about the stuff we own.When Tyler states â€Å"The things you own, end up owning you† it really opens the narrators eyes too see what he has based his life around†¦ †stuff†. Our whole lives are spent working to pay for stuff. If we did not have stuff to pay for, we would not have to work as hard and our time could be spent doing something more meaningful. This idea is also conveyed through the character Gwen from Michael Gow’s Away. A major conflict near the end of the story is between Tyler Durden and the narrator. The narrator discovered Tyler was a figment of his im agination and he wanted to stop him.The narrator wanted to get rid of Tyler, end Project Mayhem, and all of the Fight Clubs. Tyler did not want to leave and this conflict was resolved with the narrator shooting himself and killing Tyler. Tyler was created as someone the narrator always wanted to be. Tyler was the narrator’s hero and the narrator envied everything Tyler stood for. The narrator started to lose his own conformist identity and become more and more like Tyler. As the novel progressed, the narrator grew more miserable while becoming Tyler. Becoming Tyler was emotionally and physically draining for the narrator.Throughout the novel, the narrator is battling his former self and Tyler. He tried to find a happy medium between the two extremes. Towards the end, the narrator found this to be an impossible task as Tyler began to take over more and more. The narrator could not allow Tyler to continue controlling his life and destroying society so he had to shoot Tyler and himself in the process. â€Å"We need a break. We need a change† (Act Two – Scene Four). Gow has applied short and direct sentences to correspond Coral’s obstinacy and determination towards change.The repetition of ‘we need a†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ reflects how Coral has prioritised change, and her views of change being a necessity. These techniques effectively suggest Coral’s acceptance towards change. Coral conjuncts the connotation of the holiday with positive implications, evident through her statement; ‘We’ll have a wonderful, wonderful time’ (Act Two – Scene Four). Repetition is prevalent once again in this excerpt, and has been used by Gow to portray her positive attitude in regards to the opportunity to change.This is where the idea that transformation on a journey comes from acceptance and letting go of past hurts that control you. The explicit meaning of the story in Fight Club is that Tyler made Fight Club for a way for men to overcome the frustrations of their professional and personal lives. There are no rules or limits as to how far Tyler will go to fulfil his goal. The implicit meaning is that Fight Club was made as an answer to the rejection of a consumer society is with the use of violence. Fighting was a way to free a man from society.

Night by Elie Wiesel Essay

Night by Elie Wiesel. Born in the town of Sighet, Transylvania, Eliezer is a young and strong –minded individual, but doubts his religious beliefs. He and his family were taken from their home in 1944 to Auschwitz concentration camp, which was known as the Holocaust. Eliezer, being a dynamic character had many thoughts and feelings towards life and his father. His thoughts and faith always changed (Wiesel 33). But, he always tried to stay strong, hopeful and determined for himself and his father. While in Auschwitz, Elie thought alot about how his life was changing (38). He went from a 13-year old deeply observant and very religious teen, into a wishing, confused and doubtful individual. Being dynamic changes you as a person and it affected the mood and tone of the story. Eliezer’s appearance wasn’t really mentioned in the story. But you could imagine what happened with eating just bread crusts, soup, and sometimes nothing to drink (54). When Eliezer broke his foot, he still hopped for survival along with his frail father (78). His belief and faith subsided the longer they stayed in the camps. Others lost complete faith in their God that they trusted (66). It was every man for himself and they would do anything to stay alive, even kill. While staying in the camps Eliezer sometimes decided between life and death, to escape the hurt, torture, and pain. Once they were finally released free, no one thought of revenge (115). All they wanted was to eat and when they were no longer hungry, they still didn’t think of revenge. Freedom and food were the only things left to think about (113). Eliezer is a young and strong-minded individual, but doubts his religious beliefs. Being a dynamic character means that you aren’t sure about decisions and your mind is always changed. When Eliezer found the strength to get up and look at himself in the mirror, the gaze that looked back at him never left him.

The Importance Of The Political Philosophy For The State And Society Essay

The Importance Of The Political Philosophy For The State And Society - Essay Example States have long used enemies as a justification for their existence (IE population will support them for supposed protection from an enemy). Hardt and Negri’s book Empire, argues that the modern state has shifted its definition of the enemy from traditional ones, such as ideology (IE Communism) or state (for instance during European wars), to a violator of law - states manufacture the enemy as a sort of criminal (83). States have thus maneuvered themselves into a situation where any opposition to the state represents a deviant nature and something that the state has an obligation to address. In Hardt and Negri’s understanding, the enemies of the state are no longer extramural – they are in fact by definition within the state, a part of the state structure. This differs from classical neoliberal understandings of Empire, which address Empire building through expansion beyond borders, especially in an economic sense. In interpreting the quotation â€Å"Hitherto the philosophers have only interpreted the world: the point, however, is to transform it,† it is important to remember the origin of philosophy as a tradition of knowledge. Philosophy started as a form of ancient science – before standards of experimentation, testability and so on were developed, philosophers attempted to use reason to form a better understanding of the world around them. Modern science has since taken up much of the challenge of interpreting the world, by using a structured system of logic and experimentation to build causal relationships between physical phenomenon. Science has thus continually eroded the traditional realm of philosophy, especially once it started addressing the state of the human mind through neuroscience.

Willy from Death of a Salesman, and Hickey from The Iceman Cometh Essay

Willy from Death of a Salesman, and Hickey from The Iceman Cometh - Essay Example Willy becomes entrenched in a quagmire of lies, delusions and self-deception, which ultimately leads him to commit suicide. Theodore Hickman (Hickey), the principal character in Eugene O’Neill’s â€Å"The Iceman Cometh† is a smooth-talking salesman. He comes to Harry Hope’s saloon preaching the gospel of salvation, exhorting his drunken friends to divest themselves of their â€Å"pipe dreams† of tomorrow and make peace with themselves. Hickey’s murder of the tomorrow dreams will bring ruin to the bar, thus Hickey’s advent is the advent of the â€Å"Iceman† or Death. We learn later that Hickey has brought death to his own house, murdering his wife. When he confesses to the murder, Hickey’s gospel of salvation reveals itself as its own pipe dream, a delusion that lets him evade his guilt over his crime. While both characters are salesmen, they differ in temperament and outlook. Willy Loman is an insecure, self-deluded salesman who desperately believes in the American Dream but never achieves it. The fact that he uses gardening as a metaphor for success and failure indicates that he subconsciously acknowledges that his chosen profession is a poor choice, given his natural inclinations (Willy tells Stanley in Act II: â€Å"Nothing’s planted. I don’t have a thing in the ground.†). Here, the garden functions as a substitute for his failed career and his son Biff’s wayward career. Willy Loman is a dreamer, dreaming of a better life as promised by the American Dream. He dreams about being a super salesman like his hero Dave Singleman, a mythic salesman who achieved great fame and popularity. Willy visualizes having people remember and love him, considering it the ultimate satisfaction (Willy tells Howard Wagner in Act II: â€Å"And when I saw that, I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want. ‘Cause what could be more satisfying than to be able to go, at the age of

Epidemiology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Epidemiology - Assignment Example It also discusses the three parts of the epidemiological triangle in a clear and outright way. Voigt explains various symptoms in the Hong Kong and SARS article. It is evident that the symptom common to all patients is a fever above 38 degrees Celsius. Some patients experience mild respiratory symptoms at the first stage, but later the cold experienced resembles influenza. Statistics shows that 10 percent to 20 percent of the patients have diarrhea. It is also apparent that SARS lead to either bacterial pneumonia or viral pneumonia. SARS was diagnosed in patients who had any of the symptoms. Also, SARS was suspected in patients who had contact with individuals who had been infected with SARS. One was advised to visit the health centers for diagnosis in the case where one had travelled to any of the regions identified by World Health Organization (WHO) as areas with prone to SARS (Voigt, 2013). Voigt also give statistics of the SARS epidemic as per the World Health Organization (WHO) report. The statistics showed that a total of 8,097 people worldwide became infected with SARS during the 2003 outbreak. The patients among these who died were 774. In considering the epidemiological triangle, the host of this epidemic was a farmer in Foshan county in the Guangdong province of china. He died soon after the infection, and there was no definite diagnosis done on his cause of death. The outbreak is believed to have been prone in November of 2002. The unfortunate thing is that the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) informed the World Health Organization (WHO) on February about the outbreak. The report they brought forward at that time showed 305 cases of infected individuals, and that there were 5 deaths caused by the epidemic (Voigt, 2013). Sars Legacy still felt in Hong Kong article shows that lack of openness by the government of china delayed the control effort to the SARS epidemic in the region and thus the disease spread at a high rate in the Guangdong