Advocating a Harder Line on Welfare

* Re: “County Welfare Recipients Brace for State Cuts” (Aug. 3).

A welfare recipient said that “a lot of people who really don’t need the help have made things bad for those of us who do.” Who does she think provides “needy people” with money, food, housing and medical costs? I am one of the nameless faces who has monies deducted from the paycheck that I have earned. Forty percent of my pay is gone by the end of the year. I am not sure what portion goes to providing means for other people, but in all honesty it is more than I want to “give.”

When did it become moral to base compensation on need rather than ability? I have no problem temporarily helping others by investing in their potential capabilities. I do have a problem helping people based on their needs. And I do have a problem with such attitudes. I guarantee you that if someone offered me $600 to $900 a month, I would say thank you.

ANNA M. APOIAN

Corona

* No one will deny that the unemployed welder referred to in your article is now in a bad situation. But what the article fails to mention is that “now” is the operative word. The cuts [or] reforms of welfare are designed to ensure that there are no more in the future. The line has to be drawn somewhere and unfortunately, he is caught on the wrong side of the line. But if his benefits are allowed to continue, so will the benefits of others, and it will continue as a self-perpetuating process. Maybe the next generation will understand, when there is no state-sponsored “safety net” to bail them out, that if they don’t plan past the weekend, they may be in a similar situation.

BRIAN C. LUND

Costa Mesa