Truths, Half-Truths, White Lies and Lies

It is a long time until the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.  Between now and that time you will hear thousands of lies.  There will be a mixture of truths, half-truths and lies.  If I had the vocabulary of some of my Democrat friends I would add their third category-d___ lies.  Make no mistake about it both the Democrat and the Republican party will lie, even if it hurts the nation, if it will advance their cause.   

     I recently saw a post on face book that I wish to address in this blog.  The post was prepared by an individual evidently and then shared by others, entitled, “3 Republican Lies About Welfare.”   I notice there is a prevailing trait among everyone to share those things that they believe in without checking the accuracy and to check the accuracy if it does not agree with their thinking.

.     First, I wish to address the title.  I am not a Republican or a Democrat, I have been guilty of voting for both parties and think the death of both parties, as they now function, probably would be good for America.  I have never had a Republican tell me those “lies or facts” as they are presented.  But I am sure there are elitists in both parties that individually accept those three things as fact.

Number one:  Undocumented immigrants abuse the welfare system.  Is the statement saying illegal aliens abuse the welfare system or undocumented immigrants?  There are some words some folks cannot say.  The next thing I wonder about is the use of the word abuse.  Is that saying that they use the system illegally or in some way else abuse the system?  I interpreted the statement to say that illegal aliens are receiving funds from the welfare system.  At least his “fact” is clear; They cannot qualify for any form of public assistance.  Unfortunately his fact is a lie.  First, no person citizen or noncitizen can be denied Medicaid funds.  The 1996 reforms changed almost every aspect of non-citizen eligibility for welfare.  I will not burden the reader with all of those reforms but just enough to prove that the fact is a lie.  Refugees are eligible for all welfare benefits.  A person who has worked in the United States for ten years, citizen or not, is eligible for welfare benefits and his dependents.  I think also that children born in the United States, they are citizens, and probably their parents, citizen or non-citizen, would probably be entitled to aid.

With some exceptions, non-citizens entering the United States after August 22, 1996, the date of enactment of the welfare reform legislation, are not eligible for most welfare benefits, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), SSI, Medicaid, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), UNTIL they have been in the U.S. for at least five years. Keeping this general principle in mind, a more thorough review of the 1996 provisions reveals both their complexity and breadth.  

Number two:  (Lie) Welfare encourages people to not work.  His fact:  Most welfare recipients work.

This is so shallow that it scarcely deserves any type of response.  Obviously, most welfare recipients are not encouraged to not work.  Many are old, retired and/or physically unable to work.  But I know folks who will not take a job for fear of losing their welfare check.  And what type of fact would his fact be since most folks are not even in physical condition to work.

Number three: (Lie) Most welfare recipients are minorities.  His fact:  Most welfare recipients are white.

This one is a classic.  We can talk about the number of folks on the welfare roles by the actual physical numbers or we can refer to them as a percent of the population.  Before I present the actual numbers of the welfare system permit me to use a specific case.  I know a town in Mississippi in which there is not a single white person on the welfare role.  By the same token, every person receiving welfare is black.  Sounds like something a racist would say.  However, those two statements say nothing at all because the town is an all black town.  Could be that only one person is receiving welfare; but the per cents receiving welfare still remain the same—white 0%; black 100%.

     According to the 2010 census the population of the United States was 309.3 million: of that number 223,553,265 were white, 38,929,319 were African-American.   Thus you have percentage wise: 72.4% white, 12.6% African-Americans.    23.1% of white population, 54.6% of the  African-American population, and 54.1% of the Hispanic population are on the welfare roles.  Thus the comparison is: obviously there are more whites on welfare because they make up 72.4% of the population.  But, when you compare percent of the population to the percent receiving welfare you receive a total different picture.

     If I may conclude with the immortal words of the great leader of the Democrat party, “What difference does it make?”  She was speaking of the deaths of men.  Surely, I can say the same words about the welfare system.  It matter

s not the number receiving welfare, what does matter is the number of able-bodied men and women who are abusing the system.