Welfare Cuts

Re “Grandparents Fear Welfare Crisis,” Nov. 24: I’m getting pretty tired hearing all the whining about welfare reform. When Faith Mullen, a policy analyst for AARP asks, “How do you choose (to help) between a 20-year-old mother who is ill and a 60-year-old grandmother caring for a grandchild?” I say that lots of other people on the public dole make choices all the time, so why can’t AFDC recipients?

Let’s just contemplate the business lunch, that publicly subsidized write-off that provides a safety net for hungry business people. These worthies have to decide all sorts of things: which restaurant to select, who picks up the check, how many drinks at lunch time, what happens if the service is slow. If the recipients of these entitlements can make these tough calls, what is the problem with all these grandparents raising grandchildren or sick parents or other such slackers?

HILMA COHN

North Hollywood