Weve had a little discussion going on the past couple of days about drug tests being required for those people receiving government financial assistance. While I agree with a lot of the comments that were made about drug testing being expensive and people being able to test positive, etc., the fact remains that people are going to bed hungry and living on the streets and in their cars and other inhumane things while I sit here in my nice warm house, drive my dependable car, and pay my taxes, supposedly to keep this from happening. I dont want life-long politicians to spend my money any more. They are doing a shitty job, at best. Several comments were in the direction of bringing the basics back home. How about reducing the federal tax and raising the county tax and the individual counties can find what works best for them. Let us elect a person for every few hundred people in our county to administer the program and go out and find people who need help. Have a center where people can come and learn life skills and parenting and money management skills. Help them find places to live that they can afford that are not tied to the federal government - those people dont know me OR my neighbors. I happen to live in a small town and I know we have a food bank and clothing bank and that there is an organization for people who need help, but I dont know where one would go if they needed financial help - its not publicized in any way. Im not trying to start a revolution - or maybe I am. What can I do today that will make this world a little bit better? I have paid the difference on someones grocery bill if they have gone a little over on their purchase, but thats not enough. Was it my place to ask if they needed help with their rent that month, and if I had helped with that, would it have helped them in the long run? How can we help people who are struggling paycheck to paycheck get out of the hole they are in? If you are paying $1000.00 for a crappy apartment and working 2 jobs and still not making ends meet, something needs to change. Help me think this through and give us some tangible ways we can get our hands dirty and fix this.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 19:26:54 +0000