Will work for food

The comments below are my own and do not reflect the views of my employer or any other individual.

     The opening segment of the Saturday, July 27 edition of  CSPAN's Washington Journal, asked viewers to weigh in with their thoughts on whether food stamp recipients should be required  to work. As I am sure you would expect, viewpoints on the matter were pretty widespread ranging from the full throttled "absolutely" on the right to the horrified "no" and other moral umbrage from those on the left.
    I think that States should be able to have the flexibility to decide if they want to implement work requirements for taxpayer provided assistance. Certainly there will be those individuals who will not be able to work due to physical or mental impairments. However we must keep in mind that as with any public funded program there will be those individuals who will abuse it by engaging in illegal activities. In fact, there were three callers from Ohio, Mississippi and Indiana, who talked about the scam to sell food stamps for fifty cents on the dollar. I am sure that this illegal extortion of the taxpayer is probably going on in other states as well. Actually one of the callers, I think it was the gentleman from Ohio, who said that he didn't mind buying the stamps back because he saw it as getting some of his tax money back.
  Granted, most of the people who receive food stamps are not out to extort their fellow American but are truly in need of help. Indeed there have been several recent documentaries to illustrate the issue of hunger in our nation ( 'A Place at the Table' and the Frontline program 'Poor Kids' are two examples). However there are far too many of these individuals who misuse this program to purchase drugs and alcohol. Another program that needs serious examination and revamping is the Supplemental Security Insurance or SSI program, but more on that at another time.
  The role of government in our lives should be as limited as possible, that is what our Constitution advocates. Hence the resolution to our domestic ills lies with the States and more importantly with individuals. The solution to these problems can be found with individuals and government should be sought out as an absolute last resort. Unfortunately our society has become so accustomed to government intervention, that the views I've just expressed will be seen as some as nothing more than "right wing clap trap". I should caution those who are so ready to dismiss calls for limited government to look at the fate of cities like Detroit, Michigan and Stockton, California. We as Americans can not continue to leave the important matters that impact our lives to government. We must learn to rely on ourselves.
 That's all for now. Love your country and always stay on the right side.