So I’ve made my thoughts on healthcare pretty clear in the past. But I’ve never really explained what we should do in any real detail. And I’ve never really gone into detail about federal aid in general.
So let’s get this out of the way first and foremost- the federal aid system sucks. Too many people are on it, and too many of those people don’t need it. You can’t opt not to pay for it, and it costs way too much money ($2.5 trillion of the $4.1 trillion budget is for pensions, healthcare, and welfare [SOURCE http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/fed_spending_2017USrn]). It is well past time that we reform the aid system in general.
So then, how do we fix it?
First off, identify what the problems are. There seem to be a bunch of people who think money grows on trees. You can’t just look at a problem, say “Well we’ll just give them government money,” and then be done with it. That’s gonna make a lot of people poorer because you can’t do that without increasing the income tax by a lot. And the rich aren’t going to go along with that after a while.
Secondly- why not start moving towards letting people actually donate and help out WITHOUT a gun to their head? Crazy idea here, but charities work. In 2015, Americans donated $373.25 BILLION to charities [SOURCE https://givingusa.org/see-the-numbers-giving-usa-2016-infographic/]. And guess what? A lot of people will be more inclined to donate if you actually make it worth their time in other ways. Do something like deduct the amount you donated from your taxes. Oh wait…
Thirdly- why the heck don’t we let the states handle a lot of this stuff? They know better than anyone what to do for their own states. And if people don’t like it? There are literally 49 other places for them to go. Each person can find a perfect state for them. Then you aren’t throwing the nation into a debt crisis it can’t afford to come out of…
<i>Now if you’ll excuse me, the Liberal people in my head and I are having an argument.</i>
“So what? Do you want to just let people die on the streets and not get aid when they need it?”
Well maybe if you let churches actually help out, they wouldn’t be on the streets much. But no, I’m not suggesting that.Federal Aid will exist for some time. The fact of the matter is we need to stop it from doing more damage to the national spending crisis we have. And it is a crisis. We always expect half a trillion dollars in deficit every freaking year. Reforming it will provide aid to the people that actually need it.
“Then what would you do?”
Well first off, I would set five categories of federal aid:
-Medical
-Food Stamps
-Social Security
-Disability
-Welfare
For Social Security and Disability, you can’t do much on the “getting people off it who don’t need it” aspect in the way you can the other three.
For Medical Aid, Food Stamps, and Welfare- how about you make it a rule that to receive these, you need to actually have a job OR you need to find one?
“THAT’S SLAVERY, BARBARIAN!!!!!”
No, it’s just a simple procedure. You want government help? OK- we’ll help you, but you gotta do your part. Get your butt up and get moving!
If you don’t have a job, perhaps what should be done is that after a certain point (perhaps three months after receiving aid), an employee will come and help you get a job. Or if you have a job, then you just need to keep posting updates in your account on federal aid websites.
“Account? What’re you talking about?”
Another good thing to do would probably be to let people set up accounts surrounding what they receive in aid, requirement of monthly updates for non-retirees, and the ability to add into an account (sort of like a savings account just with a specific purpose).
Another good thing to do would definitely be making sure you can’t use this stuff outside of pre-designated places. IE to spend Medical Aid, you need to be at a registered doctor’s office, registered pharmacy, OR a registered insurance agency. Yeah, that’d probably be better to do than forcing people to get plans they don’t want. Let them decide what to do with their money in the insurance industry.
“You need a pizza.”
I do.
I’m sorry- what were we talking about? I nodded off and I can’t remember anything other than pizza…
Anyways we really need to do stuff like that. We need to actually make it so that you can’t use federal aid outside of what it’s actually meant to do- get you the necessities. You NEED food, you NEED medical care. You DON’T NEED the $250 Michael Jordan shoes. You DON’T NEED to eat out at Red Lobster for every meal.
So yeah- there are just a few examples of how you could reform the federal aid program. Personally, I came up with an actual monetary plan with a preset number for three different brackets going up to $30k. The plan is currently for Medical Aid and Food Stamps, but knowing how strange I am I’ll probably have Welfare, Social Security, and more, done by the end of the month…
And another thing that needs to be done to help reform federal aid AND the spending problem in general is lowering taxes massively. We need to stop being an Income Tax-based federal government. We need to move towards a consumption tax, which will prove better in the long run for both the people and the government. Simply put, you can choose what to spend your money on. You don’t need to give up money by force. And I don’t know about you- but I really would rather spend $15 on a product that currently costs $10 and have the money to do that than not have the money to buy the $10 product.
So that’s it. But I feel like I’m forgetting something important…
Oh yeah! While we’re on the topic of federal aid, I believe it’s time to share something. When we talk about Planned Parenthood, we talk about how they should be defunded. But why are we funding businesses at all?
Tying back into the tax part, why not just start offering tax breaks instead of paying them?
You want an insurance company to cover pre-existing conditions? Offer a tax cut. Tell them if they offer them and can prove they do- then they get a tax cut.
You want to reward private businesses that provide care for women? Oh hey, here’s a tax cut! Just don’t perform abortions. You do that and you’ll get a game over.
Why is that such a bad thing to believe in? “I don’t think you should get money from the government, but I do think you shouldn’t have to pay so much to them.” You’re keeping more of the money you earn. What’s wrong with that?
So those are just some thoughts. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go find a girlfriend…
