Cross-Posted from DaleGlading.com
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I remember it as though it were yesterday…
It was the summer of 2008, and I was running for the U.S. House of Representatives in New Jersey’s 1st Congressional District. Having won the Republican primary as a political neophyte, I had decided to launch my general election campaign with a walking tour of Camden.
In case you aren’t from South Jersey or aren’t familiar with Camden, it is routinely included on the shortlist of the poorest and most dangerous cities in America. It is also where my father grew up in the Cramer Hill section of town and my mother, in a neighborhood called Fairview.
Not only that, but the first house that Deanna and I owned was on 48th Street in Pennsauken, just 12 blocks from the Camden border.
Posing for a prayer and a brief photo op in front of the small brick rowhouse at 1308 S. Merrimac Road where my mother was raised and my grandfather died, I walked across the street and knocked on the screen door of a house whose wooden door was already open. After a few seconds, a black woman answered, and I started my rehearsed campaign introduction.
“Hi, my name is Dale Glading, and I am running for Congress,” I began. “I wanted to know if you have any questions or concerns that you would like to share with me.”
“Yes, I do,” the woman responded matter-of-factly. “I want to know why the Hispanics are getting in line ahead of us? We used to be at the front of the line.” Seriously, she said those exact words, which have been indelibly etched in my mind ever since.
Obviously, this woman was referring to welfare benefits and other social programs designed to assist the poor and needy. She then doubled down on her original comment.
“And what are you going to do to make sure that welfare is here for my children and my grandchildren?” she continued.
Thankfully, it was summer, and my face was well-tanned from days of campaigning in the hot sun. Otherwise, she may have noticed the color drain from my face as I realized that this woman had no aspirations for herself – and the next two generations of her family – than to continue receiving government handouts.
I acknowledged her questions, said that I believed in equal opportunities for all Americans, and thanked her for her time before moving on to the next house. However, what I really wanted to say was, “Don’t you want to stand on your own two feet and provide for your own family instead of being permanently dependent on Uncle Sam?”
As Ronald Reagan once said, “Welfare’s purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence.” I couldn’t agree more.
In fact, were I in Congress today, I would introduce legislation that would limit individuals to two years of welfare benefits over the course of their lifetime. Families with young children would qualify for up to five years of benefits before maxing out.
After all, welfare is more formally known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families… with the key word being “temporary,” meaning short-lived and not permanent. There are also six other public assistance programs – such as SNAP, WIC, and CHIP – that the federal and state governments provide with few, if any, timelines or automatic termination dates.
Offering a temporary “hand up” is compassionate. Providing a permanent “handout” is cruel and counterproductive. It is the modern-day equivalent of slavery, creating a dependent underclass that is robbed of hope, initiative, and a better future.
Welfare without an expiration date is also monumentally unfair to those hardworking Americans whose taxes fund the program. As the Apostle Paul stated in 2 Thessalonians 3:10, “For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.”
Please notice that Paul says, “will not,” not “cannot.” In other words, erecting a social safety net for those people who – due to illness or handicap – are unable to work is both compassionate and biblical. However, for those able-bodied people who willingly choose not to work, preferring instead to endlessly suck on Uncle Sam’s teat, it is time to wean them from their unhealthy and unholy government dependence.
