Quote:
Originally Posted by fishbones
Clinton signed a bill taking much of the federal assistance money and allocating it to the states for state run assistance programs. There's a huge amount of state $'s going to families on these programs. Why don't you look it up.
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Medicaid costs and CHIP are included in the second graph and they are definitely a concern. I will agree 100% on that. However, the reality is that those costs have grown astronomically with increase in costs for health care, not that people are less self reliant. The problem needs to be approached from the perspective that the rise in costs make the programs unsustainable, which gets lost in the argument when it is approached from the angle that people rely on the government more today than ever. It may cost more today, but a huge number of the people that receive assistance work 40 hours a week in low paying jobs that do not offer health care. The problem starts with the lack of good jobs and the insane rise in costs in medical care. 40 years ago if you were a laborer for Bethlehem Steel or in a textile mill, you had health coverage. Those jobs are gone. I have heard the same argument about lazy no good bums living off the government my entire life and to say it is worse now is factually untrue. Medical assistance and heating assistance cost more, and the economy tanked, so these are major issues that need to be addressed as much now as ever.