I DECIDED TO USE ONE OF MY REALLY LONG COMMENTS TO A FRIEND AS A POST. I SUPPOSE IT WILL ELICIT BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE COMMENTARY. I did not really know you in high school, Carole, so I am surprised; or is this a later-in-life feeling you have? I disagree that everyone who has benefited from some government program simply wanted a hand out. Are you aware of how many things in Ranger were built by the Workers Progress Administration? Was that a hand out or a hand up? Some people do abuse welfare, but I dont think that fact should deny those who really need it from having it. My maternal grandmother got an odd sort of government check for the death of her son (her only male support?) during World War II. It was a very small check but came monthly. I am sure she would have preferred having her son alive. He did not even die in combat or actively working for the Army Air Corps. She, by the way, worked very hard all of her life (twice widowed) to support herself, her two daughters, and all too frequently one or more of her eight grandchildren. One of the things that makes our nation somewhat unique is that we do, as a whole, believe in caring for our needy. Its too bad that not all Americans contribute to taxation truly equally. Many very rich pay disproportionately little. I do not resent my small income being taxed. I got my M.A. through a federally-funded program (the Higher Education Act of 1965). I was a Peace Corps volunteer and was very well cared for when I got sick with major liver complications requiring twelve weeks of hospitalization. I could probably think of other examples affecting me or someone else in my family. Oh, yes, a cousin with a rare disease was accepted at an National Health Institute hospital for successful treatment. I dont think anyone seriously considers Social Security to be a form of welfare. Many nations of the world, however, have no equivalent. We ourselves did not have it when we most needed it back during the 1930s. I understand that you dislike the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare, which even he now sometimes calls it), but I think in the long run, we will find that it, like Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid is a very good thing to have as an option.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 23:44:23 +0000
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