Labor Force Turns Into Labor Farce
On Friday, February 13, 2009, a $787 billion stimulus bill was passed with the intention of economic recovery. Since then, much of the stimulus is yet to be spent on what was promised. 2.3 million new jobs that were expected never materialized, and the unemployment rate has continued to surge. Although many people think we need additional stimulus in order to promote job creation, less stimulus and a stronger work ethic is the cure. To prevent the continued rise of the national unemployment rate, the government needs to stop extending welfare benefits and force people to contribute to the work force through independent responsibility. In addition, the government needs to make drastic cuts in defense spending, while simultaneously encouraging the production of American commodities.
Welfare was originally created to help those with little or no income to support their families in the time of America's worst economy: The Depression. In 2005, 2 million Americans were registered recipients of welfare: this does not account for those who are not U.S. citizens collecting benefits. This is a clear example of abuse of an extended government program and privilege. America's economy functions best when the country as a whole has a strong work ethic, but by allowing such easy access to welfare the government indirectly does more harm than good to the economy. The number of recipients of welfare is more than double of the 700,000 who collected welfare benefits in 1939. With such a rapid increase in welfare recipients the government should place a cap on the number of citizens allowed to collect unemployment benefits. This would force the government to select only those with severe disabilities which interfere with their work to collect welfare and allocate for more generous benefits. By cutting the nation's welfare program you are aiding those who truly need assistance and forcing those who abuse the program to be a part of America's workforce.
Welfare was originally created to help those with little or no income to support their families in the time of America's worst economy: The Depression. In 2005, 2 million Americans were registered recipients of welfare: this does not account for those who are not U.S. citizens collecting benefits. This is a clear example of abuse of an extended government program and privilege. America's economy functions best when the country as a whole has a strong work ethic, but by allowing such easy access to welfare the government indirectly does more harm than good to the economy. The number of recipients of welfare is more than double of the 700,000 who collected welfare benefits in 1939. With such a rapid increase in welfare recipients the government should place a cap on the number of citizens allowed to collect unemployment benefits. This would force the government to select only those with severe disabilities which interfere with their work to collect welfare and allocate for more generous benefits. By cutting the nation's welfare program you are aiding those who truly need assistance and forcing those who abuse the program to be a part of America's workforce.
Statistics show that as the War in Iraq continues the United States of America's deficit grows. In 2008, 21 percent of the national budget paid for defense and security-related international activities. With the exception of World War II helping end America's financial situation in The Great Depression, no country has been prosperous in times of war. This holds true in today's tough economic times with increased defense spending. In addition to its increased defense spending, $43 billion is spent per year for unemployment benefits and job training. By grossly spending money for defense and welfare the United States is doubling its speed for increasing the deficit. Before passing more stimulus Congress needs to establish a realistic budget. If stimulus is decided as the answer to the problem it is inevitable that the economy will collapse and a depression will resolute.
Surface transportation trade between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was 27.2 percent lower in January 2009 than in January 2008, dropping to $47.5 billion, the biggest year-to-year percentage decline on record, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). If the government should be investing stimulus in any aspect of the nation it should be in corporations who deal in foreign trade. The idea of being solely a consumer society is what creates a larger deficit. Another major concern in government spending is the amount spent on foreign oil. America spends more than $200,000 per minute on foreign oil or $13 million per hour. More than $25 billion a year goes for Persian Gulf imports alone. It would be an understatement to say that America is dependent on Middle Eastern Exports. This dependency on other countries is what weakens the dollar and more importantly weakens our reputation and respect as a nation.
America is a country that is known as the land of the free. Unfortunately when everything is free and nothing is earned the moral fiber of a country is lost and so is all revenue. By allowing more stimulus and free hand-outs America will not be able to crawl out of the hole it is in and instead will only be digging its grave.
