Missouri Farm Bureau
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Kevin Craig - "Liberty Under God"
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| We believe the
problem of second and third generation welfare is undermining one of
the basic strengths of our country. |
Welfare and "safety net" programs
are a major part of the federal budget. The federal "safety net" is completely
unconstitutional. It will destroy America.
The problem of poverty in America is primarily a moral and
religious issue. It will never be solved by a government that claims
to be "secular," short of massive enslavement and coercion.
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| We believe our
current system discourages work. In many instances, welfare benefits
are more rewarding than the benefits of work. |
The "Protestant
Work Ethic," which helped drive American productivity, has
been replaced with secular notions of "entitlement." |
| One way to
encourage welfare recipients to work would be to allow some
continuation of certain public assistance, such as child day care,
rent subsidies and health care, when a job is obtained. Benefits could
be phased out as wage earning capacity increases. |
Most of the suggested "reforms"
at left amount to tinkering with a fundamentally flawed system. |
| Since more
money is being spent each year on aid to dependent children, we
support reform efforts that would remove the financial incentives for
welfare mothers to have additional children. |
The government promotes an anti-family
mentality. The government refuses to acknowledge itself to be
"under God" as a matter of duty. |
| We believe
welfare aid of any kind should not be paid to workers on strike or to
college students. |
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| We oppose
replacing food stamp coupons with a cash assistance program. |
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| We favor better
control of regulating what can be purchased with food stamps. We favor
more stringent requirements for sponsorship of immigrants to prevent
welfare abuse. |
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| We favor the
consolidation of welfare and other social programs into a minimum of
agencies with the main emphasis on the truly needy provided the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as the Food
Stamp Program) remains in the United States Department of Agriculture |
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| We believe that
Missouri should have provisions to protect the elderly from becoming
destitute before becoming eligible for welfare assistance. |
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| We favor a more
stringent control of welfare recipients through an improved type of
identification system to decrease fraudulent and multiple collections. |
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| We believe the
state government should administer the welfare program. |
Alexis de Tocqueville noted the success of Christian
welfare agencies in early America. Government needs to get out of the
welfare business entirely. |