Lately, it seems Republicans keep trying to brainstorm about how to attract new voters in order to win in 2014 and 2016. Unfortunately, the blame is wrongly being placed by the moderates within the Republican Party on the Tea Party movement or the lack of being able to reach out to certain demographics. In reality, one of the main reasons the Republican’s keep loosing is that we refuse to buy votes with the use of food stamps and welfare checks. For this reason alone, welfare is working perfectly for those on the left. The Democrats have done a great job of legitimizing these buyoffs for decades and with the use of various tools of propaganda, the primary issue with those on government assistance on Election Day is to protect their monthly entitlement.
Don’t believe me? The proof is in the numbers. On November 6th, President Obama received just over 62 million in popular vote. On that same day, more then 41 million were receiving food stamps. Is it mere coincidence that the highest states with populations on food stamps are the same states that had the highest voter turnout for Democrats and Obama in 2012?
Many in the liberal left media like to push the idea that the majority of food stamps recipients reside in red states but those numbers are spun to reflect the percentage of a state’s population. In reality, if you look at actual population numbers, New York, California, Michigan and Illinois boast the largest amount of residents on food stamps. All of these are solid blue states.
It is safe to say the majority of these people will never vote for a Republican President or Republican candidate for that matter as long as we are having a discussion about how to reduce the number of those taking advantage of the system.
President Lyndon B. Johnson started the Food Stamp program in 1964 under "The Great Society" Plan. Since then only under President Reagan (due to a large employment boom and the removal of Puerto Rico from the total) and President Clinton (1995 Welfare Reform Act which was only signed by Clinton at the urging of his advisors if he wanted to guarantee re-election) has the actual number of food stamps recipients been reduced.
The Obama administration's philosophy is simple: how do we make more people poor and keep them there so they can benefit from government handouts? Meanwhile, they demonize the wealthy and suggest that those who succeed have done so by taking their "unfair" share. They promote poverty through food stamps, making more and more dependent on government.
How about this for a suggestion? Maybe the Obama administration should be focusing not on what makes people poor, but what makes people prosperous, how to become more like the top 1% and how to avoid becoming the bottom 1%. Their focus is totally backwards.
This is Obama’s economy. We have created a permanent underclass of people relying on food stamps. Where the left and right can and should agree is on the importance of social mobility. America shouldn't have permanent classes like Europe. Instead of bailouts for rich bankers on Wall Street and programs that sap any incentives for the poor to find work, there should be a constant churn from poor to rich and rich to poor.
Welfare and food stamp reform is a conversation that needs to happen in this country if we ever hope of climbing out of the abyss of our national debt. Some hardworking Americans do fall into times where help is needed and there is a need for a system that can provide a stopgap and short-term solution. What we don’t need is a society where 2nd and 3rd generations of American’s are taking advantage of the generosity of taxpayers. More importantly, with the latest numbers of food stamp recipients rising over 47 million and the ability to receive Government aid becoming almost effortless, we are shifting the idea of the American Dream from one of individual responsibility, self-reliance and accomplishment to an idea of government enslavement.