In all fairness, however, we should keep in mind that the roles we are providing for emulation do not encourage honesty and thrift. There is no longer a "rule of law" in this country, nor perhaps in any country. Our government and business and even religious and charitable leaders lie and cheat and steal. So when the welfare recipient has the opportunity to fudge on his benefits, who is to provide him with a moralistic how-do-you-do about the "right" and "wrong" of it?
The problem is that social benefit programs require the support of the taxpayers. If the taxpayers believe that the programs are heavily abused then they will not longer support the benefit programs. Many taxpayers (including Republicans BTW) support social benefit programs as a short term measure to help people out from both a moral and practical perspective. Having rules in place to ensure the program is benefiting only those who it is expected to help and not being abused is critical for maintaining public support. Here is some of my other earlier commentary regarding this... http://www.elitetrader.com/et/index...face-tough-choices.279490/page-6#post-3895398
Programs which benefit business also require the support of taxpayers, and if they believe that business abuses those programs, then taxpayers will be less likely to support them. The government's approach to banks is one example. Subsidies of one sort or another are examples as well. The support that taxpayers provide to "social benefit programs" is no more voluntary than the support that taxpayers provide as subsidies for airlines, oil companies, agribusiness et al. The more business can focus attention on "welfare cheats", the more easily it can deflect attention from its own, similar dealings.
ExxonMobil, Chevron Locked In Bidding War To Acquire Lucrative Pennsylvania Senator HARRISBURG, PA—With both sides increasing their initial offers for the prized asset, multinational energy companies ExxonMobil and Chevron Corporation are currently locked in a fierce bidding war to obtain a lucrative Pennsylvania senator, sources confirmed Monday. “This legislator represents an incredibly valuable commodity in the energy world, and both ExxonMobil and Chevron appear to be willing to pay whatever is necessary to acquire him,” said oil and gas industry analyst John Blakey of the ongoing, back-and-forth bidding process for U.S. Sen. Patrick Toomey (R-PA), noting that both of the politician’s potential owners are enthusiastic about the prospect of utilizing the treasured beltway resource for multiple terms. “Granted, securing such a highly profitable elected official won’t be cheap—it never is. Both of these companies know that if they are fortunate enough to gain possession of this senator, the acquisition will pay dividends for years to come.” At press time, sources confirmed that ExxonMobil and Chevron had entered talks with Pacific Gas and Electric, British Petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell, and Duke Energy to share claims in the senator for the foreseeable future. (the Onion)
While I believe that businesses that abuse programs should also be cracked down on. Similar to social benefit programs, the abuse of business programs provided by the government undermine the support of the government. However I will note the following - a business is usually visible in a community when they are creating jobs that employ people. If a business is bending the rules on a government program then it is not normally visible in a taxpayers everyday life. But when you go to the grocery store and the person in line ahead of you is abusing an EBT card by attempting to purchase disallowed items, or the name of the card is totally different than what you know their real name is, or you see Craigslist ads offering to sell an EBT card -- the abuse of food stamp programs is highly visible - which is why taxpayers demand action.
db your anti christian comments are based in ignorance and hate. prototypical leftist. What the hell do you know about who is helping others. many of us welcome a safety net... we have problems with the way the left creates a permanent poverty class. We want to help people out of poverty... not keep them in it. We have seen your policies destroy inner city after inner city and we despise the the destruction of the souls of many people and what you are doing to the children.
Small business, perhaps, which does not have the same opportunities to benefit from these subsidies and tax breaks. Big business, of course, creates jobs that employ people; those jobs just aren't here. Taxpayers may not demand action regarding business abuses because they aren't aware of them. That's the job of journalists. Or at least it used to be.
Why don't you look up the figures on shelter and food bank closures and get back to me? And who is "we"? And what is "we" doing exactly to "help people out of poverty"?
why? you made the bigoted statements not me. I see the people giving their time distributing food and making shelters. I see all the volunteers helping everyone. I hear the sermons... like the one we had today about James' teaching that faith without works is dead. You just spew ignorance and hate, with your anti christian crap and you white privilege threads. You need to examine your core. find out why you wish to be so divisive. Wonder how you and your ilk could feel so smug as you are dealing out such slime for a few coins of silver.