One fundamental area of disagreement between people who consider themselves Democrats and people who consider themselves Republicans is their view on welfare, but I think it has more to do with differing views on the poor. Those views are much more important.
I don't expect a mere thread to be able to cut through such a fundamental area of disagreement, but it does seem like something worth talking about.
Before I get goin, here are some sites with information.
http://www.usccb.org/cchd/povertyusa/povfacts.htm
That one has more than I ought to quote, but here are a few key points:
"Since 2000, the number of poor Americans has grown by 3 million. The official poverty rate in 2002 (the most current year for which figures are available) was 12.1 percent, up from 11.7 percent in 2001. Total Americans below the official poverty thresholds numbered 34.6 million..."
http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p60-222.pdf
That's a US census report on poverty. It doesn't make many normative claims about what our policy towards poverty should be, though it does have many facts.
Note that the poverty line for a family of four with two children is an annual income of $14,494.
Out of the 151.5 million workers in the US, almost 9 million live in poverty. This doesn't count children.
37.9% of those people below the poverty line worked in total. 11.2% worked full time, all year. The rest worked either part time, or party year.
You might note that most people who live in poverty don't work. I might note that 9 million american with jobs are below the poverty line. Keep in mind that the poverty line for a single person household is $9359. I don't know about you, but I might have a hard time living on less than $9359 a year. Also, keep in mind that this doesn't count people who are poor, but not quite in poverty. Lots of hard working americans have trouble making ends meet.
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So let me give you my quick bit on poverty and welfare. Sure, we may give a subsistence wage to people who don't work, but there are also literally millions of people who are poor and have jobs. There are literally millions of people who live in poverty that want jobs, and would rather work than take handouts. Moreover, better to give a lazy person welfare than to let his children do without the food, clothing, shelter, medicine, and education that they need. One way to judge the quality of our society by how well we care for our children.
I agree that people who refuse to work probably shouldn't be rewarded for it. That's just common sense. However, I would gladly send them a pittance if it means their children don't have to go hungry. Sure, they don't always spend it like they should, but the solution is not to get rid of welfare, but to reform it so that the money goes to things that are needed. Modern technology is making this increasingly possible. In addition, Clinton era reforms to welfare are making it increasingly difficult for able-bodied people to free-load. I'm not saying it's perfect yet, but I am saying that welfare is something we need to have, and that it's a good idea.