Why
Congressman Paul Ryan couldn’t be more wrong about poverty in America.
By Victor Meier
At
this point if you slightly pay attention to American politics you have either heard or
been told about Wisconsin Congressman (R), Paul Ryan’s recent statements regarding
the culture of America’s inner city men; something
about how there are generations of men not even thinking about working or
learning the value and the culture of work.
Representative
Ryan recently made an appearance on Bill Bennett’s
Morning in America, a radio talk show hosted by conservative Bill Bennett.
Rep. Ryan serves as the Chairman of the House Budget Committee and was visiting
the show to discuss his new policy proposals regarding America's social safety nets otherwise refered to as welfare.
Central to the congressman’s plan is re-emphasizing work and for some reason to reform America's welfare programs.
Fraud
accounts for less that 2% of unemployment insurance payments in America. In the
statistical world this amounts to little more than an anomaly. According to research reported by the
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), the industries which are most vulnerable
to fraud are businesses in the banking and financial institutions.
Government, public administration and followed by manufacturing round out the
other top categories. The mention of government and public administration make
reference the corruption of civic leadership we see so rampantly and to in
regard to public assistance or social safety net recipients.
(Image from usda.gov)
Furthermore, according to the same ACFE report it
was managers and executives who usually commit the most fraudulent behavior. Which
brings us back to Rep. Ryan and his erroneous approach to poverty; Ryan believes that there is in his words a, “Tailspin
of culture, in our inner cities in particular, of men not working and just
generations of men not even thinking about working or learning the value and
the culture of work.” Ryan went on to qualify his statements by saying, “So
there’s a real culture problem here that has to be dealt with.”
Congressman Ryan most likely realized how his comments would be
received and went on to encourage Americans to get
involved. Ryan believes that Americans can show that a civil society rather
than government can best serve the poor. This is where I have to fight from
going completely nuts. Idiotic and misinformed statements like these are only
feeding American’s misconception and understanding of American Civics and
Politics. So, I’m going to begin class for a moment and give a quick civics
lesson beginning with definitions.
Opinion
(o·pin·ion / əˈpinyən/) noun; a view or judgment formed about something, not
necessarily based on fact or knowledge. Not necessarily based in fact or
knowledge. Please let that sink in; because this is why when it comes to fact
based discussions an opinion is not always valued. Our next word is Government
(gov·ern·ment/ ˈgəvər(n)mənt) noun; the governing body of a nation, state, or
community. The type of government that we have in America is called a Democracy
(de·moc·ra·cy/diˈmäkrəsē) noun: a
system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a
state, typically through elected representatives. To paraphrase we have a
system of self governance in America.
So,
in effect, we already have the system in place to do what Congressman Ryan
suggests. There are already platforms in place to support Rep. Ryan’s ideas.
This reminds me of the rage against driving with cell phones and the resulting
laws supporting hands free driving; ignoring the fact that it is already
against the law to be distracted while driving and furthermore, studies have
concluded that drivers are just as distracted by phone calls whether or not
hands free.
Students,
we are at a crossroads now where it seems that one person’s opinion is just as
important as another person’s factual information and studied approach. The
vilification of government is simply asinine. It is completely
counterproductive to what our societal needs.
Now
you understand that fraud related to entitlement programs is nearly nonexistent
and I beg of you to forego your kneejerk response to apply anecdotal
information to the mix. Everyone seems to know someone who they believe is
undeserving of the support they are receiving and this is troubling to me. To
gripe over crumbs whilst the rich and wealthy feast is simply crab grabbing and it seems to me that much of the American public is happy begrudging each
other rather than demanding more for themselves.
Republican
Congressman Paul Ryan believes that our problem stems from the inner city.
That’s interesting let’s examine that assertion. According to a United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) study Rural Poverty exceeds Urban Poverty and
especially in the Southern United States where many of Rep. Ryan’s colleagues
and supporters come from. I for one simply cannot understand why they are so
deceitful; other than because of unscrupulous greed. The actions that Ryan has
proposed are immoral.
Rep.
Ryan keeps referencing former President of the United States Bill Clintons
welfare reform from 1996 where the idea of “Welfare to Work” was spawned. Great
points Congressman, so, tell me again why there is need for your program other
than to make significant cuts that would only affect a small fraction of the US
Budget? Why do we need to reform programs with nearly non-existent fraud? This
is exactly the same sort of witch hunt conjured up to create restrictive voting
rights. Please don’t believe the hype just because a person is insane enough to
keep repeating it.
This
has become a repeated strategy amongst so-called conservatives who have created
the existence of problems that are not a large enough part of the solution,
though; they occupy much of ours and our government official’s time. These are
distractions meant to be veiled as solutions to problems that don’t exist;
while ignoring our country’s true problems and solutions. One of the most
successful programs in the history of our country is Medicare. Paul Ryan says
that the program is inefficient. That is completely untrue. Prior to have
Medicare, Social Security, Unemployment Relief, etc.; America struggled with
enormous amounts of poverty. These programs have effectively thwarted those
issues.
References:
Unites
States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Economic Research Service. United
States Census Bureau 2013; Annual Social and Economic Supplements.
Bureau
of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/
Congressional
Budget Office, CBO, http://www.cbo.gov/
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