PLATFORM : Creating Hopelessness

The governor’s plan would devastate people and not address the problem of poverty. We need reforms that would help people. For example, many mothers are on welfare because the fathers of their children don’t provide support. The state should take action to make these fathers provide for their children.

This proposal is supposed to encourage those on welfare to get a job. However, we’re in a recession and many people with experience in white-collar jobs can’t find employment. The state should provide more job training and educational programs for mothers on welfare. I didn’t choose to be a welfare mother. I’m taking science classes to prepare for a nursing degree because as a nurse, I would get more money in eight hours than I would during an entire month on welfare. That’s an incentive that motivates me.

Welfare should not be a lifestyle. But there should be an adequate level of assistance for those in temporary need. The governor’s proposal would create hopelessness and homelessness and hurt parents who are truly trying to improve their lives.