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Welfare system reform won’t create jobs

According to a recent article, Paul LePage has put reforming Maine’s welfare system at the top of his agenda. The top of his agenda? Really?

Does LePage really believe that people on welfare are to blame for our current state of affairs? Is tough love for welfare recipients the best solution he can come up with? This is just silly.

We need jobs. We need affordable health insurance. How does reforming the welfare system create jobs? How does it help Mainers get affordable health insurance?

I have spent most of my nursing career serving poor families, and I am quite certain that people on welfare are not to blame for the recession, the high unemployment rate, widespread foreclosures, the lack of credit available to small business owners, the high cost of health care, etc.

Even if a few folks are cheating the welfare system, that is small change compared to the suffering inflicted on millions of Americans by the greedy corporate executives whose irresponsible actions caused this recession.

But, it’s easy to take shots at the poor, since they don’t donate much to political campaigns. Instead of nickel-and-diming the folks who are collecting welfare checks, how about aiming a little higher where the big bucks are? Large corporations are stockpiling cash reserves and refusing to expand their workforces in order to show larger profits. Banks that were bailed out with taxpayer money are refusing to extend credit to small business owners.

Let’s not lose sight of the big picture. We need government leaders who have wisdom and compassion, not politicians who are willing to scapegoat the most disadvantaged among us because they are simply unprepared or unwilling to take on the very real and complex challenges we face in Maine and in our nation.

 

Gail Boaz

Augusta