Put Me in Charge

Put me in charge of food stamps. There would be no purchases of Ding Dongs or Ho Ho's, just money for 50-pound bags of rice and beans, blocks of cheese and all the powdered milk you can haul away. If you want steak and frozen pizza, then get a job.

Put me in charge of Medicaid. We'll test recipients for drugs, alcohol, and nicotine. If you want to use drugs, alcohol, or smoke, then get a job.

Put me in charge of government housing. Ever live in a military barracks? You will maintain our property in a clean and good state of repair. Your home will be subject to inspections at any time (just as many landlords do when they rent apartments or houses). If you want a plasma TV or cable, then get a job and your own place.

If you live in subsidized government housing, you will either present a check stub from a job each week or you will report to a "government" job. It may be cleaning the roadways of trash, painting and repairing public housing, whatever we find for you. If you disagree, get a real job like the rest of us. 

Before you decide that I've violated someone's rights, realize that all of the above is voluntary. If you want our money, accept our rules. Before you say that this would be "demeaning" and would ruin their "self-esteem," consider that it wasn't that long ago that taking someone else's money for doing absolutely nothing was considered demeaning and lowered one's self-esteem.

If we are expected to pay for other people's mistakes we should at least attempt to make them learn from their bad choices. The current system rewards them for continuing to make bad choices.