04.09.12
Two bucks an hour
A front page story in yesterday’s New York Times on the destruction of social welfare programs during the Second Great Depression was breathtaking in the national immorality on display:
Among the Arizonans who lost their checks was Tamika Shelby, who first sought cash aid at 29 after fast-food jobs and a stint as a waitress in a Phoenix strip club. The state gave her $176 a month and sent her to work part time at a food bank. Though she was effectively working for $2 an hour, she scarcely missed a day in more than a year.
“I loved it,??? she said.
Her supervisor, Michael Cox, said Ms. Shelby “was just wonderful??? and “would even come up here on her days off.???
Then the reduced time limit left Ms. Shelby with neither welfare nor work. She still gets about $250 a month in food stamps for herself and her 3-year-old son, Dejon …
Part time or full time, and no matter how low skill the “job” is, paying someone a measly two dollars an hour — or the equivalent of sixteen bucks for a full day of labor — is clear evidence of deeply ingrained and systemic immorality.
It teaches nothing about becoming independent. And it imparts nothing in the way of worthy experience to be valued so poorly.
That this gentle soul hardly missed a day and sometimes even worked for free … words fail.
The now bog standard GOP view:
Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, the top House Republican on budget issues, calls the current welfare program “an unprecedented success.??? Mitt Romney, who leads the race for the Republican presidential nomination, has said he would place similar restrictions on “all these federal programs.??? One of his rivals, Rick Santorum, calls the welfare law a source of spiritual rejuvenation.
“It didn’t just cut the rolls, but it saved lives,??? Mr. Santorum said, giving the poor “something dependency doesn’t give: hope.???
How do you get hope and spiritual rejuvenation from two dollars an hour part-time work?